MADISONVILLE, Ohio — Tristin McDonald grew up in Madisonville, so it was only right she bought a house in her hometown. What she didn't expect was for her home to already have issues just days after she moved in.
“I’ve only just moved in two nights ago,” McDonald said, assessing the damage this week's severe storms did to her basement. “On Wednesday morning I woke up and there was 2-4 inches, depending upon where in the basement, of water.”
After her basement flooded, McDonald said she called the Metropolitan Sewer District.
“They sent someone out, and they did a scope, and I also had plumbing work done right after we purchased the place, and between those scopes from the plumber and the Metropolitan they showed a clear line,” she said.
McDonald said MSD ruled out the water in her basement was sewage. She then called the City of Cincinnati’s Stormwater Management Utility Department.
“They came out, looked in the basement and was like ‘Wow, this is a lot of water,’” McDonald said.
She said she’s still waiting for the department to call her back. She knows she’s not the only one dealing with water damage in her home.
“It’s been crazy. I mean just today we got about 30 calls,” said Randy O’Hara, a sales and marketing representative with Servpro.
He said his company specializes in fire restoration, mold remediation and water mitigation. He said his team has been working long hours after the storms rolled out of the Tri-State.
“We've been hammered the last few days,” he said.
O’Hara said none of the homes he’s seen over the last few days have extensive damage.
“If we find water in your house or in your business, we extract the water,” O’Hara said. “If we find it in your carpet or pad, depending on what type of water loss it is that would be removed. If we find it in your drywall that can be demoed and mitigated as well, and then we bring in equipment to help dry out your home.”
However, he said some of the damage he’s seeing right now can be prevented if homeowners take specific actions.
“Walk around your house, spend a little time and see if your drains are clogged. If your drains are clogged, uncover them. If you got window wells that have drains in them as well make sure those are uncovered,” O’Hara said. “The drain in your house and in your basement, make sure that’s uncovered as well because if your sump pump does fail that water can go into your drain and you won’t have as big of water damage there too.”
He also said it’s important to make sure your sump pump is working properly.
O’Hara didn’t visit McDonald’s home. McDonald and her husband removed the water themselves. For now, she’s still trying to figure out why rainwater is coming into her home.
“Everyone is saying that it shouldn’t be happening, which yeah, I agree and MSD shows on their line that it’s clear that it’s a separate department. And, the storm drain department [Stormwater Management Utility] said that it’s not connected to the house, but somehow a massive amount of rainwater is coming into the house,” McDonald said.
She said there’s a storm drain right in front of her house, and it’s hard to believe that isn’t the source of her problem and she’s worried what will happen when we get more rain.
“I’m terrified I have so much anxiety about that, but at this point, I can’t do anything I can only be reactive instead of proactive,” she said.
She’s hopeful the city will help her figure out why rainwater is coming into her house.
“I can’t get a solution until I find out what the problem is,” she said.
McDonald also said a lot of water and debris was flowing down her street Tuesday night, and would like the city to take a look at the infrastructure that’s in place.
“There’s a lot of mud, and rainfall, and a lot of debris that comes down this street, which I’m not sure if the inlets are big enough to support all the rain that we get,” said McDonald.
