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'It is always like this': Kalamazoo resident's backyard becomes mini pond after heavy rainfall

Backyard flooded in Kalamazoo
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Post-Tropical Cyclone Beryl started dumping rain into the Midwest on Tuesday, impacting road conditions for parts of Kalamazoo. One resident woke up to water flooding her backyard.

"It is always like this," Bobbi O'Neill told FOX 17.

According to her, water above the ankle is normal for O'Neill's backyard every time it rains. The backyard and her basement suffer.

"Whenever we have heavy rains and long periods of rain, it just comes down the back hill and just lands here," she explained. "We basically just have to wait till it dries out. And depending on how long that takes, like, sometimes it'll just get, like, real muddy looking, the grass will. Or it'll just look, like, old and beat down."

She lives off Crosstown Parkway, which was one of three roads in Kalamazoo that were closed or rerouted due to remnants of Beryl.

"With the 2008 and 2018 floods, you know, they're like, well, 'We got a 10-year plan.' We don't need a 10-year plan. We need a plan now," O'Neill said.

Between tornadoes, straight-line winds and hurricane remnants, Kalamazoo County has not caught a break from Mother Nature. O'Neill told FOX 17 that flooding has been an issue on Crosstown Parkway for a while. She's hoping the city can come up with a way to fix it.

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