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Local couple dealing with a real life money pit

Posted at 10:30 PM, Feb 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-06 16:19:36-05
It's a real life money pit. The American dream becomes a nightmare for a local couple, with a giant hole in the middle of their bedroom. And that's not all.
 
They're telling Contact 13 something needs to be done, now.
 
"We need help, but we don't know what to do," says Lyndsay Klein.
 
This pit actually used to be Lyndsay's master bedroom.
 
 
"Our mattress was in here. My king sized mattress...we had a nice shower there. Walk-in closet," says Lyndsay.
 
She and her husband Aaron, bought their home last summer. The 3 bedroom house on 15th Street, near East Bridger, appeared to be in good shape.
 
Just 2 months after moving in, heavy rain flooded their guest room.
 
"All the stuff we had in that room was pretty much destroyed," says Lyndsay.
 
However, the worst was still to come.
 
"Tremendous amount of water. Here's my house," says Lyndsay in the home video you can see above.
 
And that's exactly where the water ended up. These pictures show the kitchen and bedrooms, all under water.
 
Once the rooms were cleared out, Aaron started removing the carpet. But when he reached the subfloor, they discovered how much worse it really was.
 
"What do you do with this?" says Lyndsay.
 
The rain had collected inside this crater. It looks like the master bedroom was a late add-on to the house, because a concrete slab was never put down. And that eventually allowed the water to come up through the floor.
 
 
"We can't live here until it's fixed. And we can't fix it until the drainage is fixed. The city hasn't fixed the drainage in 50 years," says Lyndsay.
 
So Lyndsay reached out to Contact 13. It turns out flooding has been a problem for years. Action News captured these images of Lyndsay's house after a 2011 storm. We turned to the city, to find out what's being done.
 
"We did our flood repair improvements in the 80s and 90s. Now it appears to be coming back," says City Councilman Bob Coffin.
 
He says flooding is a major issue again on several different city blocks. That's why he has a team researching options for new flood control measures.
 
"I'm looking at the maps right now to see what else we can do. We may be able to spend some money on this," says Councilman Coffin.
 
His staff plans to canvass the area, and talk to all homeowners hit hardest by rain runoff. While it's good news, it's a little late for Lyndsay and Aaron.
 
 
"I should be able to live in my house. We should be able to start a family and... I can't do that here," says Lyndsay.
 
Unfortunately, Lyndsay and Aaron's home warranty doesn't cover any of this damage. And they never had any flood insurance, because they don't live in a flood zone.
 
They've created a GoFundMe account, in hopes of raising money for repairs.