DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – In the days following the latest floods that soaked homes across Metro Detroit, a thick layer of mud can still be spotted in one Dearborn Heights neighborhood.
Severe weather in recent weeks has caused torrential rain to fall across Metro Detroit, causing flooding problems for several cities and their residents.
In Dearborn Heights, the cleanup is far from over.
More: Weekend rain brings severe flooding to Dearborn Heights neighborhood
Residents say the smell of sewage has been lingering in the air.
“It just smells like wet grass, it stinks really bad,” said resident Stevonia Dukes, whose basement flooded as a result of the heavy rainfall.
Dukes said more than a foot of water was in her basement and damaged a number of her belongings.
“It has taken a toll on us a lot,” Dukes said. “We have come out of a lot of money.”
Most of the furniture in Dukes’ basement was ruined amid the flooding, in both June and the latest round of flooding last week.
“This isn’t even the stuff we had from the last flood, they came and got that stuff,” Dukes said. “We had two couches, we had a lot of stuff down there that got ruined.”
Across the street from Dukes, families were still drying out shoes with soaked mattresses and belongings piling up outside.
Many residents near Telegraph and Van Born roads in Dearborn Heights are in the same boat.
One resident said she relied on sandbags to help keep the water out amid the heavy rains.
“Instead of water building up at the base of the stairs, it was only filling up a little bit, so the water wasn’t coming into my basement,” the resident said.
Sitting next to the Ecorse River, this resident says that everyone is worried that they can’t protect their homes from flooding when severe weather strikes.
“(I’m) very concerned. It was very scary because I had to watch it come up through my backyard and then also come up the front,” she said.
Since Friday, neighbors say crews have been out cleaning up the mud leftover from the storms. But residents say they are concerned that the city’s aging infrastructure is no match for more severe weather.
“Why is this water not draining, why is it flooding every time?” Dukes said. “I don’t understand, this is ridiculous.”
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