PAINESVILLE, Ohio — On Saturday, residents along Outrigger Cove in Painesville Township discovered sewage covering their basement floors after rain seemingly overwhelmed the area's sewage system.
Although the sight disgusted and frustrated homeowners, residents tell 3News it's not entirely shocking.
"I feel like I'm a veteran of it, because I've gone through it so many times," Pamela Knapp said. "And I remember that first feeling. It's gut-wrenching."
Knapp has lived in her Outrigger Cove home for the last 19 years, and after Saturday's rain, her basement flooded for the fourth time. She and her husband say they have poured $50,000-$60,000 to address damages caused by the repeated issues.
While their basement used to be a place they loved, they're done fixing it due to the high costs.
"We're just constantly on edge," Knapp remarked. "I know it's going to happen again. Without a doubt it's going to happen again."
Down the street, Monica Leovic still replays the moment her basement flooded last summer with 24 inches of sewage, displacing her family and forcing them to drain a retirement fund to pay for damages.
"We were kicked out of our home with no compensation or no care," Leovic said. "We got a letter from the county stating they were not responsible for the damages, and that was the end of it."
Leovic tells us her family made the decision to permanently shut their drains, making their basement bathroom inoperable but hopefully saving them from all future flooding. She and Knapp want Lake County to take action and replace the sewage system on Outrigger Cove, and Knapp also believes the county should provide them monetary compensation for the damage.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Lake County told WKYC replacing the sewage system on Outrigger Cove wouldn't fix the problem. He claims rain and storm water is entering the system from points upstream, and until that flow is eliminated or reduced, the problem will continue whenever the area sees "some amount of rainfall."
In a statement, Lake County Sanitary Engineer Randy Rothlisberger wrote:
"It is important to note that this system is relatively new compared to typical areas that experience backups. As such, this poses a challenge when isolating the exact cause and developing a satisfactory remedy. That said, the Lake County Department of Utilities is working with a consultant to address the rain-related backups that residents experience. Open drains below surface levels (basements), will always pose a possible risk. For this reason, and to protect residents homes and properties, our department has changed its standards roughly 15 years ago to require all new homes to have high wall plumbing rather than traditional floor drains. To conclude, it is critical that our customers, especially residents in this particular community, know that the Lake County Department of Utilities and Lake County in general are committed to ensuring that residents have functioning sanitary sewer systems. We will continue to perform our due diligence to ensure the public system is properly maintained, and we ask that residents assist by taking necessary steps to ensure their private systems are also functioning properly."