The city of Tonawanda sits where the canal meets the river, and the older housing near the water has the foundations you would expect for its age.
High water at the thaw and a rising water table are the seasonal factors, and they push water at foundations that were never sealed against it.
What we deal with in Tonawanda homes
Basement seepage and sump systems working hard through the spring. Where a sump cannot keep up or fails, the finished space takes it.
The older stock also brings original plumbing and cast iron waste lines that are well past their expected service life.
My sump ran through the whole thaw and the basement still got damp.
That usually means water is arriving faster than the system can move it, or arriving somewhere the pit does not serve. Worth looking at the exterior drainage rather than only the pump.
Do I need a backup sump pump?
In this area, most finished basements benefit from one. The power tends to go out during exactly the storm that produces the water, which is when the primary pump is needed most.