DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – Summer storms brought heavy rain and flooding to Metro Detroit.
Homeowners are at their wit’s end, especially in Dearborn Heights.
Read: Dearborn Heights residents frustrated with constant flooding
Now the city is trying to do something about the homes destroyed by the floods.
Debris and remnants of the summer storms can be seen all over Dearborn Heights. The city is planning to buy 28 flooded homes to demolish them, starting with houses on Currier Street.
When Latanya Gater purchased her home, she knew it was in a flood plane -- her yard is just steps from Ecorse Creek -- but after floods in 2017, 2019 and two in 2021, she’s at her wit’s end.
“I had no idea it would be an issue every year, or sometimes multiple times a year,” Gater said.
Gater is on the school board and on several commissions in the city, but she said she’s speaking only for herself. She has flood insurance, but enough is enough. She said the floodwaters get so high, they trap her and her 9-year-old son in their house until they receed.
“Sometimes I can’t even get out of my home to get to work or get to the market. You know, those basic necessities that you need everyday,” Gater said. “Sometimes I’m just confined to the home because of the flood.”
The city of Dearborn Heights sent her a letter and offered her the chance for her home to be bought out and torn down. She applied and is hoping it’s one of the more than two dozen the city plans to buy using money mostly from FEMA. It’s a program Dearborn Heights used before in 2014 and 2016.
Gater said she was the first in her family to own a home and being forced to give it up is bittersweet.
“The thought of having to relocate, I have many involvements in the city. I moved here to help my family in a lot of ways,” Gater said. “I’m not looking forward to that however, I just can’t keep up.”
Before the homes are demolished and turned into nature preserve lots, they will be used as training sites for the local fire department. The city hopes the nature preserve lots can reduce the amount of water entering the basements of nearby homes.
Watch: Video of flooding on Metro Detroit roads, freeways on Aug. 12, 2021