Detroit Area Flooding - 08/11/2014

[UMich06]

Is there something about I-96 that just prevents it from getting flooded? There was not a drop of water on the road today, and the only flooding I saw yesterday was right near the Telegraph exit ramp [[where it closes). It could be that the western suburbs didn't get nearly as much rain. I live in Northville and haven't heard of any flooded basements [[yet).

[Pam]

Video of some rescues in this link.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/weathe...troit/27418928

[Johnnny5]

Yikes! I worked late last evening and didn't know any of this was happening. Out here in Milford it rained all day, but nothing really unusual.

[Maof]

was heading down mack from verheyden funeral home last night. didn't even make it to 7 mile because of the construction and a bit of flooding. headed down a side street to jefferson. flooding started at 9 mile. kept heading down jefferson and was speratic flooding until just past 12 mile rd when it started to get worse. i turned down a side street and went a few houses down until i saw several cars stranded and turned around and went back to 12 mile up to harper. flooding in that intersection and turned again down harper toward shook back to jefferson and it was free and clear. what gets me is when your driving cautiously through the water you get these nitwits flying in their trucks splashing and pushing water and quite frankly making it even more dangerous.

[hybridy]

my mother-in-law left her job in bloomfield hills heading east to roseville. left at 6 pm and got home at 12:30 am...normally a 30 minute commute.

[animatedmartian]

The poster image of this event seems to be the I-75/696 interchange. Here's a pic from MDOT posted on their facebook page. The clearance height for the 1st level overpass [[the little yellow sign) is 14 ft 8 inches.


https://www.facebook.com/MichiganDOT

Here's a wider shot from Freep:


http://www.freep.com/article/2014081...troit-flooding

[Smirnoff]

Hope some of you have vehicle flood insurance..........

[jackie5275]

I didn't have too much trouble getting across down via I-94 once I entered from Wyoming going east, but westbound looked like the remnants of a war zone. I have no idea how I'll get home today.

[gazhekwe]

Our rain gauge in Southfield registered 3.5 inches. While it rained really hard for hours and our swale was filled to the brim, nothing actually flooded. We are thankful our power stayed on, as it has gone out with every other storm this season. OTOH, taking a friend home to south Rosedale, thanks to WWJ we avoided the mudslide at Southfield and Grand River, but ran into lots of flooding and crazy drivers on the surface streets.

[Honky Tonk]

I didn't have too much trouble getting across down via I-94 once I entered from Wyoming going east, but westbound looked like the remnants of a war zone. I have no idea how I'll get home today.

McGraw was clean on my the way West this morning. Ford Rd. was good except numerous traffic lights were out.

[motz]

I got semi-stranded in Ferndale last night trying to get home. 75 was impassible, Woodward was a mess and I didn't want to tempt it... So I just went to the bar and hunkered down. Made it home safe last night and into work safe today. This has been absolutely nuts, but I also LOVE this type of stuff quite heavily. The blackout, the snowpocalypse, I love how we all bond and share in the misery. Made a few new friends last night to boot!

[Scottathew]

so taking m-59 to OU today should be fine?

I haven't heard any issues about M-59.

[DTWflyer]

No issues up in Auburn Hills/Rochester or along M-59. The worst of the damage and closures are south of 14 Mile and east of Telegraph.

The surface streets have basically dried out, but some of the urban freeways are a mess. I-75 under I-696 will probably be closed for a few days.

[mikeg19]

I-94 was clear sailing from 23 Mile until I hit 696 and saw that it was gonna be closed. Hoped off on 12 mile and had no problems. Crossing over 94 at Gratiot, it looked like ghost town.

I was wondering why it was so clear on the roads this morning, only to find out once I got to work that GM and TACOM were closed today. Guess that will make my evening commute home nice today.

[DTWflyer]

My office in Dearborn is about 50% attendance today.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Hope some of you have vehicle flood insurance..........

Doesn't full coverage insurance cover this? Or is vehicle flood insurance separate?

[bailey]

Doesn't full coverage insurance cover this? Or is vehicle flood insurance separate?

yes. as long as you have at least comp coverage. if you just have PLPD, you're eff'ed

the bigger issue is the damage from water in basements. unless you have water back up coverage or flood insurance, you're probably eff'd

[Jimaz]

As the storm was approaching I noticed the clouds were moving toward the northwest instead of the usual east-northeast. It might have been that the leading edge was rotating counterclockwise around the low.

Now I wish I had thought to check the weather radar.

In Utica the Clinton was running very high this morning. I've seen it higher though. Davis Drive in southwest Utica was flooded and closed but that's no surprise because it's down in the floodplain.

[TKshreve]

yes. as long as you have at least comp coverage. if you just have PLPD, you're eff'ed

the bigger issue is the damage from water in basements. unless you have water back up coverage or flood insurance, you're probably eff'd

Didn't read the entire thread so it may have been touched upon, but it's wild to think about all of the households I know of that sought and were awarded a pass on flood insurance here on the east side. Most of the east side and the suburbs are considered part of a flood plain, but for decades we have never seen flooding of any substantial size. Maybe low lake levels kept this scenario at bay for the last 10+ years. Many people I know were fuming when automatic bills came to their homes for flood insurance. Countless hoops they jumped through to get these costs abated. Now the insurance companies are probably laughing on the beach *pun*.

I wonder if this latest spike in Great Lake levels is directly responsible for this mess?

[Bigb23]

Time to dig out some paintings I created in the eighties when expressway flooding was more frequent.

Thanks for the new wallpaper Lowell, and sorry Garwoodians.

[DTWflyer]

The rain event and the subsequent flooding had nothing to do with lake levels. The majority of flooding was a result of urban drainage issues.

The rain storm yesterday was due to a frontal pattern that pulled moisture directly up from the Gulf of Mexico until it ran into a stationary system in front of it. Essentially it amounts to the equivant of hurricane reminants hitting Southeastern Michigan. Most areas east of I-275 saw 4-6" with the worst being in an area south of 14 Mile and east of Telegraph, with a bullseye on the Rouge, Red Run, and Escorse River basins.

The result was with so much water in short time with nowhere to go but to accumulate in lower areas - roadways, parks, etc. The water overwhelmed the sewer systems and the areas hardest hit included areas that do not have seperate storm and waste water systems. Flooding overwhelmed the freeway pumping systems that were pumping into an overwhelmed sewer system which caused it to blow out of sewers, onto roadways, into low spots in the freeway system and into people's basements. The area under I-696 and I-75 is lower that most basements in the area.

Here are some interesting maps:
http://redrundrain.wordpress.com/201...ps-of-red-run/

There are all sorts of old creeks and streams in the City of Detroit and inner ring suburbs that were buried pre-1960s. This took away the natural drainage system and pushed it to the sewer system. Water naturally is going to accumulate in those same areas.

People had been living dangerously without flood insurance in those areas. It is no surprise to anyone that has lived here for more than 10-15 years that basement flooding was all to common in many of these spots. Warren, Royal Oak, Berkley, parts of Detroit, most of the downriver communities were notorious for flooding in the 1990s.

The difference with many of those instances was more localized flooding and more like 2"-3" of sustained rain. It never has taken out the entire depresssed freeway system.

[Danny]

Is there something about I-96 that just prevents it from getting flooded? There was not a drop of water on the road today, and the only flooding I saw yesterday was right near the Telegraph exit ramp [[where it closes). It could be that the western suburbs didn't get nearly as much rain. I live in Northville and haven't heard of any flooded basements [[yet).

Yes, all Metro-Detroit freeways have pumping stations to pump excess water out before its flooded. However some of the pumping stations are poorly maintained and can't handle more torrential downpours. The pumping stations begin to fail and water begins to fill up the freeways starting the bypasses to the lanes.

[Danny]

Most newer modern suburban homes are now equip with sump pumps. Guarantee to keep your basement high and dry. Older inner ring suburbs with older basements don't have sump pumps. Once your basements are flooded, you valuables will be sunk.

[Mackinaw]

DTWFlyer, I have heard about the buried rivers....grew up essentially on top of the Fox Creek. To your knowledge is there any issue about erosion/disintegration of whatever they are contained in? I am imagining one big culvert. What happens when that starts to crumble? Should we avoid real estate built atop these underground rivers?

It would really be cool if every town could afford to build stormwater systems that drain to rivers and lake, separate from their sewerage system. I think the GP Farms-City system did that awhile back. It is a worthwhile thing to establish more natural drainage patterns and to prevent sewage from being pumped into waterways during heavy rain.

[DTWflyer]

Re - Freeway pumping systems:
While true that in some case there may have been pump failures much of it was due to the sewer system being overwhelmed with nowhere to pump the water. In typical thunderstorms, the most common pumping failure is due to power outages that take the pumping stations offline. It is also common for inlets and drain basins to get clogged with debris and trash. Sometimes there are mechanical failures, due in part that many of the pumping systems date back to the 1970s/1980s and it is unknown how many have the necessary preventive maintenance and electrical upgrades.

Yesterday though, there was too much rainfall for the sewer system to handle. Specifically watching the pumping station at I-75 and I-696, it was pumping water, but it was literally blowing out of the overflow ontop of the pump house because the sewer outflows were completely at capacity. Thus, the water was overflowing out, back on to the freeway and just filling up the underpass more. Then the service drive above was so flooded and nowhere for the water to flow into the drainage system, so that overflowed down onto I-75 below.

Re - sump pumps.
In many cases, even with a sump pump, it would not have prevented flooded basements in places like Royal Oak or Berkley that were backflowed with sewage. Sump pumps are good at pumping out water that gets in from the foundation, groundwater, and run-off. However, in the case were the sewer system is at capacity and full up to the point where it is above the floor of the basements and was rapidly filling into people's basements. Water was literally shooting out of a toilet in my buddy's basement in Berkley. Most sump pumps aren't designed to keep up with that much backup. The best prevention for sewer backups is a backflow preventor on the sewer line past the basement floor drain.