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MILWAUKEE - The rain was approaching quickly Thursday afternoon and everybody on the south side knew it.  That's why Brenda Kleemann and her daughter were cleaning out the sewers in front of their home.  Clogged sewers have been a recipe for disaster in the past.
 
"I've had six and a half, seven inches of water in my basement because the sewers were plugged up," Brenda said emphatically as she leaned on her rake.
 
Thursday afternoon Milwaukee's Department of Public Works was right up front about it.  They were not sending out additional crews to clean sewers in advance of the rain.  DPW's Cecilia Gilbert said additional personnel would be available if needed following the rain.
 
Roger Beavers did his part Thursday.  He collected all of the leaves in his yard and raked them into the street, leaving a wide margin at the curb for water to escape.
 
"If they're not gonna clean the sewer drains, the water's gotta go somewhere," Beavers said.  "Hopefully it's not in my basement."
 
Kleemann's frustration wasn't as subtle.  She maintains that city crews sometimes make the flooding worse when they come through to collect leaves.
 
"When they come through as they did this morning, they brush everything across all the sewer lines," she said.
 
Overall residents in this neighborhood known as Lake Town say DPW has done a solid job collecting leaves.  They just wish they would be more aggressive keeping sewers clear.