Sewer Backup and Storm Flooding in Skaneateles Village
On a steep lakeside village the question is what is arriving from above. Two named streets have surcharged in living memory and the houses below them felt it first.
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What arrives from above on a steep Skaneateles street
A basement here can take water for a reason that starts several streets uphill. The village annex to the county hazard plan records that in a storm dropping two and a half to five inches of rain in under two hours, storm sewers on the eastern side of the Village surcharged and caused erosion and debris on East Genesee Street, and that properties on the west side flooded from storm surcharge. In the June 30 to July 1, 2015 flood, storm sewers along State Street and Austin Park surcharged and damaged storm structures while East Genesee Street was blocked with debris. A house below one of those runs sees the consequence in its lowest drain, and that is surface water rather than a blocked lateral.
What sewer backup involves
Uphill water or your own line, on a Skaneateles slope
Weigh where the house sits on the hill and what the rain was doing. Two and a half to five inches in under two hours is the kind of event that has already surcharged the storm system here, and a basement that only takes water in that situation is describing volume arriving from outside rather than an obstruction inside. Weigh the rainfall record as a sanity check, because only 5.3 days a year in this area deliver an inch or more. Then work the county's prevention steps, which apply whoever runs the plant: grease and wipes out, wrongly connected sump pumps and roof drains found, an unneeded basement sewer connection removed, and the floor drain protected.
Position on the slope is part of the diagnosis
East Genesee Street, State Street and Austin Park all have recorded storm surcharge events. A property below one of them is downhill of a known problem.
Match the event to the storm
The recorded surcharges follow two and a half to five inches in under two hours. Only 5.3 days a year here bring an inch or more, so an event that rare is a strong signal about cause.
Protect the opening, then look at the line
Where water arrives from outside, plugging or fitting a one-way device to a basement floor drain does more than cleaning a clear pipe ever will.
East Genesee, State Street and the storms that surcharged them
The Village of Skaneateles annex to the 2025 county hazard mitigation plan records that in a storm dropping two and a half to five inches of rain in under two hours, storm sewers on the eastern side of the Village surcharged and caused erosion and debris on East Genesee Street, and that properties on the west side flooded from storm surcharge. In the June 30 to July 1, 2015 flood, storm sewers along State Street and Austin Park surcharged and damaged storm structures, and storm sewers along East Genesee Street surcharged and blocked the roadway with debris.
Source: Onondaga County 2025 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, accessed 2026-09-08
Under the NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals, Syracuse receives 38.47 inches of precipitation a year at Hancock International Airport, on 173.6 days with at least a hundredth of an inch, 89.7 days with at least a tenth of an inch, 22.7 days with half an inch or more and 5.3 days with an inch or more.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, accessed 2026-09-08
WEP names three causes of basement backups: blockages in the sewer line, inflow during heavy rainfall overwhelming the sewer system, and tree roots infiltrating sewer pipes. Its published prevention steps are to keep fats, oils, grease and wipes out of the drain, to check for sump pumps, roof drains and gutters wrongly connected to the sanitary sewer, to eliminate or redirect an unneeded basement sewer connection, to plug or fit a one-way device to a basement floor drain that connects to the sanitary sewer, and to have a licensed plumber install a backwater valve, which must be inspected and cleaned regularly. The department warns that while a backwater valve is holding back a surcharge it is also stopping flow from leaving the house.
Source: Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection, accessed 2026-09-08
Where does the house sit on the hill?
Tell us the street and what came in, and we will say what is likely arriving at your lowest drain.
Other basement and drain work we arrange in Skaneateles
What Skaneateles owners ask after a storm reaches the basement
Which Skaneateles streets have flooded from storm surcharge?
The village annex to the county hazard plan names them. Storm sewers on the eastern side surcharged in a storm dropping two and a half to five inches of rain in under two hours, causing erosion and debris on East Genesee Street, with west side properties flooding from storm surcharge. In the June 30 to July 1, 2015 flood, storm sewers along State Street and Austin Park surcharged and damaged storm structures.
My basement only floods in a big storm. Is cleaning the line worth it?
Only if the line is actually restricted, and on this evidence it may not be. A property below a run of storm sewer that has surcharged before is receiving water from outside, and a clear lateral does not stop that. The work that helps is protecting the openings below street level and keeping surface water away from where it is getting in.
Tell us what came into your Skaneateles basement
Send your ZIP code and what you saw. Phones are answered 24/7 and there is no obligation.