It feels like Metro Detroit is increasingly seeing flooding.
On August 24, 2023, freeways and roads transformed into canals after numerous reports of 3 to 5 inches of rain in just six hours.
On June 26, 2021, it was a similar sight in Southeast Michigan. Roadways were impassable, and basements were ruined. The threat of mold lasted long after the waters receded.
There was also a memorable and historic flood event a decade ago.
“It was once… Not once in a lifetime because things are changing,” said Keith Hogan of Warren. “We’re starting to get some really bad rains now where it’s coming up a lot higher than it was before. Times are changing. The climate’s changing.”
A warming climate leads to more evaporation and more moisture in the atmosphere. On Aug. 11, 2014, four to six inches of rain fell in as little as four hours across Metro Detroit. Detroit Metro Airport received 4.57 inches, which is the second highest single-day rainfall total for the location ever recorded. The greatest official rainfall total at the observation site was 4.74 inches, which was set on July 31, 1925.
With over a billion dollars in damages, the federal government gave Michigan a Major Disaster Declaration.
Hogan lives next to the Red Run, a small river that serves as part of the storm drain system. He remembers having to leave behind his car nearly a mile from home. He recalls walking in waist-deep water with his son.
“When we got home of course, the water level was too high to move any of the vehicles and came into the house and we’re trying to fight it with sump pumps and keep the water out.”
The water rose to three feet outside the house and four feet in the basement from sewer backup. The floodwaters claimed all four of the family’s vehicles. Replacing the cars, home repairs, and new appliances cost about $95,000, he said.
“I still have structural damage I haven’t repaired yet, like the porch is starting to collapse; but it takes a long time to get back to where you were.
Several miles to the south, Detroit was hard hit. The city continues to see problems from torrential rain.
“We’re not seeing a significant increase in the amount of water on an annual basis, but we’re absolutely seeing more intense storms more frequently,” explained Sam Smalley, deputy director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
He said the regional system that Detroit built for most of Southeast Michigan, which is now largely run by the Great Lakes Water Authority, was designed to handle rainfall at a rate of 1.7 inches an hour, but “some of these storms that we’re seeing are well in excess of that.”
That amount is about half of Metro Detroit’s average rainfall of 3.26 inches for the entire month of August.
Despite multiple agencies investing in projects across the region to improve drainage, “it would be an incredible expense to just build a whole new system, billions of dollars easily,” said Smalley. “So what we can do is make sure that the system that we have today has as much capacity as it possibly can.”
This can be accomplished with the help of detention basins to hold water and allow it to trickle back into the system.
What can you do at home? He encourages Metro Detroiters to disconnect downspouts from the sewer drain and allow rainwater to flow onto the grass.
He implores people to never put grease down the drain and keep catch basins clear of leaves or debris. He is also an advocate of rain gardens, which help to slow and limit the amount of water that reaches the sewer system. (The loss of vegetation and more concrete surfaces contribute to urban flooding.)
In Warren, Hogan wants to see less vegetation in the Red Run in hopes that it will flow better and flood less.
“This has happened a number of times since then, but not as bad as 2014,” he said. “Nowhere near as bad.”
Check with your community about flood prevention resources. In Detroit, learn about the Basement Backup Protection Program here.