West Seneca has Cazenovia Creek running through it, and that changes the risk profile compared with the rest of the suburbs. Ice jams are a genuine local phenomenon rather than a theoretical one.
When a jam forms and water backs up behind it, the flooding is fast and it affects properties that have no plumbing problem whatsoever.
What we deal with in West Seneca homes
Creek flooding is the distinctive one, and water that has been outdoors is treated as contaminated regardless of how clean it looks. Porous materials it reached come out rather than being dried.
Away from the creek it is the standard suburban pattern: sump failures at the thaw, ice dams in winter, and basement seepage in older foundations.
The creek came up and got into my basement. Is that a normal claim?
Water arriving across the ground is flood, and flood is a separate policy from homeowners. Document everything before cleanup regardless, because the source determines which policy applies.
Why can't the carpet be dried after creek water?
Because it is not a cleanliness question. Outdoor floodwater carries contamination, and porous materials cannot be returned to a sanitary condition in place. That is a health standard.