Michiganders Left Cleaning Flood Damages Again After Rainfall

METRO DETROIT — Warm temperatures on Sunday allowed parts of southeast Michigan to dry out after the area saw flooding following steady downpours through much of Thursday and Friday.

But the sunshine couldn't help dry out the basements of many Metro Detroiters, who for the second time in a month are left cleaning up flood damage.

"It's happening again," 41-year-old Ebony Walker told The Detroit News. She said that after June 25-26 storms also brought enough rain to cause widespread flooding her basement saw 5 feet of water, gutting the drywall.

Rain on Friday prompted even more flooding, closed freeways across stretches of Detroit and knocked out power to many.

Read More: Metro Detroit Flooding: All Lanes Of I-94 Reopened

"I was in the basement when it started — it sounded like the toilet was gargling," Walker told The News. "Then it sounded like Niagara Falls."

The recent rainfall came a day after President Joe Biden approved a request by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to issue a disaster declaration for Wayne and Washtenaw counties. The declaration allows both counties to receive federal funding in relief efforts.

Whitmer issued a state of emergency for parts of Wayne County, where The National Weather Service said more than 6 inches of rain fell during the night of June 25 and the morning of June 26, according to The Associated Press. Grosse Pointe Park said it measured 8.1 inches over 24 hours, the AP reported.

The rain led to the flooding of several Metro Detroit-area highways. More than 50,000 DTE customers lost power.

See More: Biden Approves Disaster Declaration For Parts Of Southeast MI

Damage assessments are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed, the White House said.

Officials told WXYZ that much of the flooding occurred because the ground and creeks across the region were already full from prior rainfall.

Now, residents are left cleaning up flooded basements again.

"Last time the water was clear," Greg Bowens of Grosse Pointe told The Detroit Free Press. "This time the water is murky and has a smell already. So maybe they fixed what failed before. But now something else failed."

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