Four weeks without substantial rain may be the root of all your plumbing problems, it's an unusual situation: days with no rain possibly causing flooding inside your home. Action News 5's Ursula Madden is live in Midtown to explain. Hello Ursula. Hello Donna, well you mentioned all the weeks we've had without a lot rainfall, well that's where the problem begins. All this dry weather, trees get thirsty and they go in search for water but tonight, we got to the root of the problem. We love looking at treetops. They're tall and beautiful, they give us oxygen and shade. What's above ground doesn't cause too many problems, it's what lies beneath that could have you throwing money down the drain. Well the main thing is tree roots. Plumbing experts say dry weather like the mid-south has had for the past couple of weeks, will send trees in search of what they need most. They've got to have moisture and they're going to find a moisture source any way they can. And of course the sanitary sewer line contains moisture. It's a problem you may first notice if your sinks drain too slowly or if water has no place to go, it will back up into your home. Once a root gets into your sewer pipe and then the little roots are growing off of it, and once they get in there and they create a net across that sewer, the paper and waste and stuff will build up on it. That's when you have to call a plumber. They use electronic powered state cable with a special blade on the end to cut through your root-blocked pipe. This homeowner caught the problem pretty early but there's a worst-case scenario, tree roots busting your pipe. If you can put these things off for so long and instead of me coming out here and using this machine, we're gonna come out here with our Batcos. And we're gonna start right here at his house and go all the way that curb. And it costs thousands of dollars to replace your sewer line. That actually happened to a coworker of ours here at Channel 5 and ended up costing him $4,000 to replace his sewer line. Now the experts tell me there are some products that you can buy at your hardware store that you can put down into your drain that helps keep the roots out of your sewer line and it doesn't hurt the tree. If you have an older home with clay or concrete or even cast-iron pipes, where they're more likely to be susceptible to root damage from trees. Reporting live now in Midtown, Ursula Madden, Action News 5. Thank you Ursula, some useful information there. So we checked with the local insurance agency to find out who was responsible for making repairs. If the break is between the house and the connection to the city sewer line it is your responsibility. But it's also your responsibility even if the tree that caused the problem is growing in your neighbor's yard. [Roto-Rooter jingle]