Portage residents frustrated over flooding

PORTAGE, Mich. (Newschannel 3) - There are plenty of West Michigan families that have to deal with flooding every spring, but one particular recurring case is causing a major headache for some home owners in Portage.

Erin Carsten is one of those frustrated home owners. She's been using a sump pump to pump water out of the basement of her home on Bedford Street since September.

And while the the flooding comes and goes through the seasons, this week, the pump is running every 45 seconds, pushing about five gallons of water each time out of her home and onto her front lawn, ruining her basement in the process.

"It's sad," she told Newschannel 3. "We had the finished room, the pool table, carpet everywhere."

Chris Benniks lives three doors down from Carsten, and says he's having the same problem. And he's done the math; he says that since September, his sump pump has pumped more than 100,000 gallons of water out of his flooded basement.

"I was hoping it would settle down, and wouldn't come anymore," he said.

But Carsten and Benniks aren't alone. Newschannel 3 contacted Ed Krieger with Ayers Basement System, who says that they've been swamped with phone calls lately.

"Our business is up tremendously in the West Michigan market, including Portage, Scotts, all the way to the state line because of the high water table," he said.

But Benniks wonders if it really could be just Mother Nature at work, or if there's something else causing the problem.

Whatever it is, he'll have to continue to count on his sump pump to keep up with the water, especially when storms are looming.

"Hope we don't lose electricity, like the storm tonight, then I'd be in trouble," he said.

Many people in Bennik and Carsten's neighborhood say that if it is just a high water table, nature has given them an unexpected bill - in the thousands of dollars.