Heavy rains are a constant headache for one heartland family. They say the problem is caused by a Nebraska Department of Roads project that has resulted in a real mess in their yard.

Brenda Young says on Sunday, "It rained and all hell broke loose here."

The water came pouring into the yard of Brenda's Gretna home.

"The water was rushing so fast and furious through here that it would have knocked over a small child or a dog," she says.

Brenda says her family is held hostage every time it rains.

"It's just been a nightmare the whole way through."

At least seven family members and friends manned the brooms to push the mud and water away from the pool Sunday.

"We were able to keep it at bay with some serious sweat and work," she said.

Brenda says a small trickle of water used to flow onto her property but when a highway project started, that trickle turned into a flood. Several natural culverts now funnel water into her yard.

She contacted the department of roads and says, "They've been out here and witnessed the water coming through just shaking their heads saying 'wow, what is it?' It got worse but they still wouldn't do anything."

Water ruined the basement. They pulled the carpet out and mold is forming on the walls, making the basement unusable.

The Youngs even dug a channel but that hasn't helped and the slope of the roadway adds to the problem.

Brenda Young would like to see a permanent drainage system on the east side of the highway channeling the water away from her property but most of all, she wants her life back.

"The house was fine until they did the road project," she said.

In a statement to Channel 6 News, the Department of Roads concludes there's nothing they can do since the house was built in a natural waterway. They insist there is no extra flow directed or diverted to the young's property from the highway project. The DOR cites record rainfalls and soil saturation as causing the drainage problems.

Brenda Young says she has researched water flows in the area over the past 27 years and she says her research shows the problem was never this bad.