DETROIT – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is asking for volunteers to help fill 50,000 sandbags to stop flooding on the city's east side.
Duggan said it will take heavy lifting and hard labor to defend against flooded streets in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood.
While the neighborhood ducks adjusted well to the floodwaters, residents did not.
"They need to come out here and fix it," resident Robert Settles Jr. said.
Duggan said it's not just the rain.
"The Great Lakes look like they're at their highest water levels in history," Duggan said. "We have dozens of homeowners that have not built or maintained proper sea walls."
That's affecting people such as Craig Balow, who built a new sea wall.
"Actually, 10 to 11 inches of it comes up," Balow said. "Any higher, then it will be over my sea wall."
Outside his home, it's a mess, and his basement isn't any better.
"When the water rises, things start floating," Balow said.
City officials are asking residents to band together and volunteer to fill and place tens of thousands of sandbags across the sea walls.
"I've filled sandbags before," Balow said. "They're a pain in the butt, but yeah, I'd go do it."
Balow and other neighbors said they're willing to do just about anything to stop the flooding.
You can watch Duggan's full news conference below.