RAYTOWN, Mo. — For the third time since May, Sam Dawson woke up to water running into his basement.
He watched the murky water rise around his washing machine, dryer and water heater. Then he picked up the phone, like he had done before, to order some pumps.
"The whole goal is to get it dry and hopefully keep it dry until the next rain, of course," Dawson said as he stood in front of a hose with running water pouring out of it.
Dawson's Raytown home was among dozens across the metro swamped by another rainstorm that overwhelmed the city.
"Sump pumps are just overworked," Craig Collins, the president of AFC Cleaning and Restoration , said. "There is just so much water they cannot keep up and they are burning out."
Collins and his crew have been working around the clock, responding to calls about flooded basements. One common thing he has noticed-- homeowners do not have water backup or sump pump rider policies, which are optional add-ons to a homeowners insurance policy.
"No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them, but eventually it does," he said. "It could save thousands."
Collins also suggested that homeowners constantly check their gutters, foundation, and talk to their neighbor's about where their gutters discharge.
"We always start from the top down. So gutters first, then it's the foundation and the erosion around the house. People always say my foundation seems fine but the problem is if you go out and look at the last time the house was painted, you'll see a gap between the gap and concrete before you get to your mulch, that gap is what we get concerned about because that means it's starting to fall," he said.
