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McHenry Residents Blame County Construction Project For Flooding

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Hours of heavy rainfall left several homes filled with water Tuesday night. Residents in a McHenry neighborhood believe a county construction project made their flooding worse than usual.

McHenry resident Max Reid is angry because his home was damaged after rain poured into his home during severe storms Tuesday night.

"We lost a bunch of furniture," he said. "Two sump pumps over here tried pumping it all out, but couldn't keep up."

Carpeting, cabinets, shelves, and other personal belongings have been airing out in the front and back of his McHenry home after they were soaked by flood water.

Pictures show the rain water building up in the street with seemingly no outlet to drain, eventually draining into Reid's basement and his neighbor's main floor.

Towels and ripped up carpeting in the driveway show the headache the flood water caused the McHenry residents.

Reid and other residents on his block say homes on his street flooded because construction crews didn't finish their work on the draining system, blaming the roundabout project for the excessive water.

"It's the construction going on. They are ripping up the old draining and replacing it with new and they just didn't get it done," Reid explained.

The construction is about 25% complete. Neighbors say the amount of flooding that happened after the storm Tuesday night is unusual.

The McHenry County Division of Transportation brought pumps to help drain the water while they work to figure out if the roundabout construction caused the flooding.

"I'm livid," said Reid. "I'm very mad."

If the McHenry County Division of Transportation determines it is their roundabout project that caused the flooding, homeowners will be able to file a claim for a possible reimbursement and begin the building process.

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