Are you able to show a wide scene following the path of escape for the water? To do it you would stand at some central area to the side of the path, then aim the camera toward one end and take a succession of slightly overlapping pictures, following the path until you have captured the other end. All pictures would be taken from a single position and then all posted so we can follow the path. As well, show the french drain inlet and outlet.

Hmmm, not sure how much of the drain I can capture, as it's underground. The outlet is also underground - there's just a storm drain cover, like the gratings you see on the side of the road. I have no idea of the underground structure. I'll post a few pics of what I can.

Here's the drain in our yard.

Here's what it looks like normally, hopefully with enough perspective to give you what you're looking for.

And here's a flood.

I think the current system came about because of a complaint to the city. Not sure if they're interested in doing more. When we first moved in the drain had become clogged with tree roots and the neighbors behind us raised a huge stink until the town came through and cleared it. It IS much better since then. It used to take days to drain after a rain and now it's just a few hours.

So, this is hopeless?

The pictures are not helpful because the first ones don't show any surroundings which indicate lay of land and the last two don't show a whole span of the scene so that someone could "assemble" your yard in their mind. One would need to understand how water moves through your yard, where it's coming from and potentially where it could go. It could only come from a series of CONNECTED pictures. Not a single shot view or any close-up.

Okay, here are a couple more. In the first picture of the yard up above you can see the whole back view. The corners of the fence are both viewable there, and our neighbor's relatively flat yards are on the other side. Here's a view of up towards the house. Photographer is probably standing right around the drain there.

You need at the very least advice from a civil/environmental engineer if you have that much water collocting in your yards. There are solotuons, but they are physical and way beyond "landscaping." You need to find someone with a fairly high level of hydrological knowledge to sort out your problems.

And here's another around the corner of the back deck

everyone is freaked out about zika virus right now. If water is sticking around, I'd bang the drum of "what would the local news think of a city-created mosquito habitat in a residential neighborhood?" But I also don't always fight fair.

But if it's totally draining away in a few hours I don't know how far you'll get. A lot of the municipalities I've worked with take the view that if there's no standing water after 24 hours, all is right with the world. That's created frustration for several past clients.

You really need boots on the ground to get to the bottom of this. If I were involved I'd start by shooting grades and getting a full topo of the property, then start searching for where water can go. That may mean a landscape pro or an engineer, but I'd start with a call to the town. My neighbor behind me regraded and flooded my yard, and the town landscape architect came out to take a look and make a recommendation. I know that in bigger cities it can take being a squeaky wheel, but I think it's totally worth it. If there's a municipal drain there, they know there's a problem. Advocate for a better resolution!

You've alluding to the existence of a "storm drain." What is it exactly and where is it relative to your back yard.

OUTSIDE of your property, where is lower ground? How far away is it? What blocks the path of water getting to it?

Other than to show you have a problem, so far the pictures don't offer information about how it might be solved, or lead to what might be investigated further. Not in disagreement that you will likely need a person knowledgeable about drainage to visit your site.

There is no lower ground. We're the lowest, to my knowledge, which is why the water pools in our yard. The block looks flat initially, but the water shows there's a slight incline to our backyard.

The storm drain is just beyond the back fence, running parallel to it. We think it runs the whole block and connects the town drainage.

I've been assuming that the solution would involve more drainage to the storm drain, as that's the only exit. Well, that or to bring in enough dirt that our yard is no longer the lowest point.

It sounds like it's all about making better use of the storm drain, which is a call to the city. If you raise your entire grade that water's going to create a problem for someone else, and that can result in a lawsuit that you will likely lose.

Could you show a picture of the storm drain .... from a distance so as to capture surroundings?