FERGUSON, Mo. — The water broke through in August. But the problems have been building for years.
"I try to stay positive, but I cry easily," said Georgia Cotton as she stood in her flood-damaged basement.
More than 2 feet of water wiped out Cotton's finished basement, her furnace and water heater. It left her with a gnat infestation and forced her out of her Ferguson home of nearly 20 years. She doesn't live in a flood plain and her insurance won't pay for the damage.
"I just need some help," she first told 5 On Your Side last week.
A Ferguson city inspector said Georgia's problem is coming from her uphill neighbor Mike Person - who just happens to be running for an open seat in the Missouri House of Representatives.
When we first talked to Person he told us he, too, was a flood victim and blamed the Metropolitan Sewer District for water running onto his land on Alicia Avenue.
But after further investigation, both MSD and the city of Ferguson say the problem is coming from Person's property. Specifically, a drain from his garage that the city cited as a code violation.
That citation is just one of more than two dozen citations going back to 2012 when the city says Person first moved into the home. Since then, records show the Ferguson city inspector has made 54 visits to Person's place for a variety of alleged violations - including the lack of an occupancy permit.
"I don't want to completely blame it on the inspector, but we have a rogue inspector, who you fix something and he comes back with something else," Person said this week outside city hall, where the city of Ferguson took Person to court and where a judge granted him a delay.
Person said he's not hurting his neighbor, but standing by her against the city.
"What is it about us that we can't get the same justice as some other folks?" Person asked a reporter.
Georgia Cotton says she just wants someone to take responsibility for the flood that's pushed her out of her home.
"I can't keep putting money in there and nothing being fixed about it. I'm homeless," she said through tears after Person's court appearance.
And even though the city tells her Person is to blame, Cotton says she's frustrated with the city, too, for how long it's taking to get any resolution.
Her flooding issues go back to at least 2016.
The city manager said that unfortunately for Georgia, the "wheels of government turn slowly."
He says even if Person is found guilty of the violations, there's likely nothing the city can do for Georgia.
Friends have set up a Go Fund Me account to try and help her with repairs.
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