Flooding leaves basement, backyard damaged in Macomb Township

MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Sunday rainstorm brought enough showers to flood a Macomb Township backyard and basement – but it isn't the first time this has happened.

"Yesterday was catastrophic. This is unbelievable," said Vanesa Mladenovic, who has been dealing with excessive flooding for years.

She and her relatives blame how the sewer system is set up by the county.

"From about 6:15 p.m. to about 7:30/8 (p.m.), I would say the water rose another two and a half feet, as the pumps were non-stop pumping," said Mladenovic's cousin, Brendan Trpcevski.

Mladenovic's extended family immediately got together to help on Gardenia Court in Macomb Township.

But mother nature had other plans.

The backyard and walk-out basement were already flooded.

"We probably had about five to five and a half feet of water in her basement," said Victor Trpcevski, Mladenovic's uncle. 

"We stayed til about 2 a.m., ripping out all the carpet," Brendan added.

The family is beyond frustrated.

"This isn’t the first time that it's happened. Probably won’t be the last, considering now we have evaluated the sewerage system here," Mladenovic said. "It just can’t handle that type of weather conditions that we’ve faced."

The family said they are working with their township supervisor and county officials.

"The next steps will just be re-building her basement and hopefully try to figure out a solution to stop this from happening again," Brendan said.

"We can’t even express the amount of tears, blood, sweat that has gone into that basement over the past couple of years," Mladenovic said.