Giselle Ballschmieder woke up just before seven this morning and found a mess in her basement.

"I opened the door and it came in like Niagara falls," says Ballschmieder.

Heavy rainfall had flooded Ballschmieder's yard overnight, the water spilling through the garage and into her house. She called her son for help, and after an hour with a sump pump, they thought it was under control. Then, it started raining again.

"I came back and it was up 4 or 5 inches in the garage, pouring in to the basement," said Ballschmieder's son Mike Jacobson.

That's when Jacobson called for back-up. The Guilderland Fire Department, busy since 4am, headed over to help.

"We use an electrical pump, gas pumps, shovels, picks, try to take some of the ice out of the way," says Guilderland Fire Chief Don Gaitor.

The cleanup is a lengthy process. The water needs to be directed away from the house that is flooded and past the neighbors the nearest storm drain.

"The warm weather and the huge volume of water that's coming from the sky, is overflowing normally sufficient storm sewers," says Gaitor.

As a result many areas along route 20 saw flooding...Fuller road, School House Road, and West Highland Drive, where Ballschmieder has lived for years.

We have been here 44 years never had anything like that...Never," she says.

News report and picture provided by Fox 23 News