Rain, Rain Go Away!

We have had an insane amount of rain.  It has been soooo wet.  One storm, in particular, brought on a nightmare of the "home repair" type.  With the magnitude of water that came down off the house during that downpour, the rain gutters couldn't handle the job.  (Of course, the rain gutters were not installed correctly in the first place...one of MANY things wrong with this rental house.)  As the water comes down the spout, it pours out and over the plastic cuff/sleeve and most likely has never been directed out to the drain properly.  So, the water flow diverts the other way right along side the foundation, eroding all the land around it.  (This is not the only rain gutter that does this...all of them do this.)  Obviously, when too much water comes at once, it's a recipe for disaster.  The window well to a Makenna's basement started flooding, and water started creeping into her room.  We don't quite know how it was happening, but I'm very glad that Mak was downstairs with a friend who noticed the water pooling outside the window.  The air vent just below her window on the inside was filled with water (can't figure that one out either), the carpet and wall were damp, and the dust and debris in the window track were moist.  YIKES!

I called the property management company (no one answered, of course) and left a message.  I was going to have to do water control until someone called me back.  With bucket in hand and garden clogs on, I barreled out the water as fast as I could.  Not fun!  I could barely keep up.

Finally, some maintenance guy called back and they sent someone out (not quickly enough, I might add).  After further investigation, it was determined that sump pumps would have to be installed there and out back as well.  Also, diverting the water a different way coming out of the rain gutters was a must.  Only, they couldn't get a hold of the owner of the house (who lives in Australia), and had to make some executive decisions about what to do.  Pumps were installed and ugly black tubes were attached to the end of each rain gutter and spread out onto the grass.  Not the prettiest fix, but it's doing the trick (unless the black tube gets moved and directed right into a basement window well.)  Then, we have a nice flood to clean up on the other side of the basement...that part of the story is to be continued.