For nearly a week, residents in the Town of Evan's Fern Brook Creek area have been dealing with the effects of a recent storm: standing water and flooding in their basements and yards.

Vincent Desantis moved in the area two weeks ago and has already seen between $12-$15,000 in damage.

"That is going to be out of pocket," Desantis said.

A total of 15 homes were damaged during last week's flash floods.

"I'm being told sandbags help to an extent, possibly another sump pump well — that I'm gonna have to dig in the basement —building flood gates, but at the same time I shouldn't have to," Desantis said.

Desantis was told this has been an ongoing problem for years. The Town of Evans Supervisor Mary Hosler ​says drones are being used to determine if there's debris or blockage in the drainage system.

"Unfortunately some of [these] areas of Fern Brook have shrunk to the size of a ditch so there's not much depth or width to hold on to a lot of this water," Holser said.

Holser says the DEC and Army Corps of Engineers will allow the town to remove that debris, but they are prohibited from altering or channeling the Fern Brook Creek without their permission.

Hosler is also in the process of applying for a town-wide drainage study grant.  

"I just feel bad for our residents, water is [a] quality of life issue here and we need to take care of it," Hosler said.