CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A Cheektowaga cemetery we've done stories about in the past because of flooding issues, has flooded again.
"Four generations of my family are buried here," explained Pamela Rawson.
But when Pamela Rawson went to visit their graves this weekend at St. Adalbert's in Cheektowaga, she found several flooded grave sites. She shared several photos with us.
"You can see the damage to the ground, the ground being the grass and the weeds that leads up to the monuments. You can see the water line where the water was sitting. It's bad," she says.
It's a problem Rawson had hoped was taken care of.
"It's disappointing. The maintenance is poor," she says.
We first met her in December 2019 when the flooding was more extreme. After our story aired, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese pumped the water out.
"They made some repairs, but obviously, the repairs didn't last or there is a new problem that needs to be addressed and repaired," said Rawson.
She wants the current flooding issues addressed.
"Simply put, this is a final resting place on Earth for these people that are buried here, and it should be a place of somewhat solace, a peaceful setting to come and visit and pray and recall memories, whatever people do when they come to the cemetery. It's missing that because you're distracted by the water, the stench, the poor maintenance of the grounds," says Rawson.
After 2 On Your Side informed the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo about the issue Monday, we got a call from the Director of Catholic Cemeteries who told us the water is coming from the area around the train tracks behind the cemetery. He said they've asked the railroad company to clean up. We were able to see the area to verify those conditions. And, to deal with the flooding, the cemetery is putting in a bigger pump.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, the Director of Catholic Cemeteries told us the railroad company had cleaned up the area. The cemetery cleaned out the pump and determined that it's now working much better. They hope that cleaning out the pump will fix the problem because the plumber told them a new pump would require new pipes, and it would be a $10,000 fix.