Rising Tide 2012

continued

"The state would say to build rain gardens and storage facilities, which is what we've done," says Hupy. "When we repaved Stadium a few years back, we installed larger pipes with cisterns, and the schools allowed us to use their front yard at Pioneer for storage facilities."

But even after that work, Mershon and Covington flooded. Where does that leave the Fishers? In addition to the grading the couple paid for, the city has installed a third sump pump.

"They [Perimeter] put two sump pumps in with an alternating switch to even the wear," Hupy explains. "The problem is that it's set up to run only one pump no matter how high the flow. We installed [the new pump] so that when their system cannot handle the flow, the city pump would kick in and handle it."

Three pumps and higher window wells may keep out the next one-in-twenty-five-year storm. But, Hupy warns, "Flooding is a natural occurrence. It's Mother Nature's way of dealing with rainstorms. We'll never get away from it."