The Great Detroit Flood of 2011

I've been working since 4pm today using 18 gallon & 12 gallon wet/dry shop vacs to dump the onslaught of rain water Metro Detroit area is getting. My place in Ferndale has the backyard completely submerged, and I've just emptied about 300 or so gallons of water into the wash basin in the basement, desperately trying to keep the flood waters from overwhelming my basement.

Tomorrow, they are forecasting an additional 1-3 inches of rain. Are we sure that 89 year old milkeshake from California wasn't right about the end of the world starting?

How is everyone on this forum holding up? Any stories of woe from the ongoing onslaught?

I am still high and dry here in Plymouth. I would have to say the Edward N. Hines would be very proud of his parkway right now. It is working exactly as intended and keeping the flooding Rouge away from private property.

High and dry in Berkley. My basement waterproofing is paying off in spades, although I do have a bit of water coming through the fireplace cleanout during the deluges. Fortunately it's not much and it goes directly to the drain.

I actually have check valves on my main drain and storm drain, but they couldn't hold back the pressure from the city sewers today. I'd say a quarter of my basement took on water today, for only the second time in 15 years. It all drained by 1 o'clock, I'm amazed that it's pretty much dry by now.

My neighbors weren't so lucky, most of them took on at least 4-6" around the perimeter. Another Hamtramck friend came home to 8, with a water [[dirt) line about 6" higher.

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Originally Posted by JDKeepsmiling

I am still high and dry here in Plymouth. I would have to say the Edward N. Hines would be very proud of his parkway right now. It is working exactly as intended and keeping the flooding Rouge away from private property.

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No he wouldn't. I was driving down Merriman in Westland and the Police was detouring traffic away from Hines Park it was flooded so bad. The upper branch of the Rouge looked like the Mississippi River. Hines Drive and park is always flooded, even after a thundershower.

Some areas of Shelby Township seemed pretty marshy but those are lower-lying areas so it didn't come as much surprise to see standing water. Coming into work today included the daily trip from M-59 down Opdyke to South Blvd. For the southbound lanes, the left turn lane was the only viable option. The southbound lanes were completely submerged in a foot of water about 100 feet long.

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Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

No he wouldn't. I was driving down Merriman in Westland and the Police was detouring traffic away from Hines Park it was flooded so bad. The upper branch of the Rouge looked like the Mississippi River. Hines Drive and park is always flooded, even after a thundershower.

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It's almost as though they designed it that way, huh?

Hi there--

If you know of a basement that's gotten a lot of flooding, please send us the address at wwjnewsroom@cbsradio.com. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by tvaspen

High and dry in Berkley. My basement waterproofing is paying off in spades, although I do have a bit of water coming through the fireplace cleanout during the deluges. Fortunately it's not much and it goes directly to the drain.

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Suprised to hear that coming from a Berkley resident! :) I had to install a backyard sump pump system last week. It was a mess but I have a decentl;y dry backyard now and a dry basement.

Another Berkley resident here... we have a puddle in the back corner of our yard but everything else is high and dry. Our basement never leaks. All though I have heard the same thing about Berkley basements being leaky.

Berkley & Royal Oak are notorious for being soggy in heavy rains. The area used to be swampland, is flat, and drains poorly. It doesn't help that they buried Red Red back in the 1920s so there are no natural drainage channels streams.

We have a plugged drain in back of our house, so we ended up with a trickle of water coming in at one edge of the basement. It politely went to the storm drain and left without making a big puddle. It did wet some boxes of records that happened to be right where it came in. We created a shunt for the backed up drain for now, hope to repair it once the rain stops. Elsewhere in Southfield, the Rouge and its tributaries and former tributaries are all at maximum capacity.

I wonder if pouring the water into the basement sink is helping at all. Depending on which drain is backing up, might that water not just go right back into the flood?

We live in Grosse Pointe Farms and got totally flooded out. The fire hydrant in front of our neighbor's house was about 2/3 submerged. The water jumped the curb and made it all the way up the incline to our flower beds. Actually, my husband jumped the curb as well when he got home from work- he could not tell where the street ended and gave our neighbor a total lawn job. I guess the storm drains that run off into the lake just gave up.

High and dry in my part of Ferndale. I've been there nearly 20 years, and have never had a problem with water in the basement - been very fortunate. Sorry to hear about everyone's problems with water.

My drive home up Hubbell was a bit of a white knuckler - a couple of cars tried driving through the water behind me and ended up getting stuck. What makes some people think that a car sitting low to the ground can traverse water the way a Jeep Wrangler can?

I live in a place that doesn't have a basement, partially because I grew up in a Detroit home and recently moved from an Ann Arbor home that were both Flood City whenever it rained hard. [[My former A2 housemate says that things were flooding pretty badly there yesterday -- I can only imagine.)

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Originally Posted by WWJNewsradio950

Hi there--

If you know of a basement that's gotten a lot of flooding, please send us the address at wwjnewsroom@cbsradio.com. Thanks!

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Ha ha. If you are looking for news, I would think you would want to hear stories of a basement without flooding. "Man bites dog. Now that's news!" Michigan = wet basements.

I am getting a long established water-level effect. When the earth gets over-saturated, the level rises enough to cause seepage through the cracks in my basement. Fortunately these form into tiny rivulets that thankfully wind their way to the drain. As long as that accepts the water, as it always has so far, I am fine. When it slows I wet vac up the remainder. Everything is long ago and consistently elevated.

The only solution, so I have been told, is to go into a costly sump pump system that would require digging around all the basement foundation, a quarter of which is impossible as the house is split level with the fourth basement wall under the house.

And you guys keep jumping all over me when I want to drop that pipeline in the lakes. Sheesh.

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Originally Posted by aoife

We live in Grosse Pointe Farms and got totally flooded out. The fire hydrant in front of our neighbor's house was about 2/3 submerged. The water jumped the curb and made it all the way up the incline to our flower beds. Actually, my husband jumped the curb as well when he got home from work- he could not tell where the street ended and gave our neighbor a total lawn job. I guess the storm drains that run off into the lake just gave up.

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Unless you live east of Ridge your storm drains are combined with the sanitary sewer system. The Farms' Kerby Road pumping station had a power outage that caused the pumps to get behind on the incoming flow. Not sure if they had the capacity to keep up even without the power disruption.

Blame it on La Nina folks, as more low pressure storm systems marching through the midwest like a parade, most areas in Metro-Detroit will get more flooding and their basements, too. Have your sump pumps ready.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET!

As Canton TWP was turned into Lake Canton in the flash.

I miss you so, Neda.

We waterproofed our basement as soon as we moved in, St. John Woods is notorious for leaky basements and tree-root infested drain pipes, we had fix that as well. You can hear the water running through the drain pipes they installed. Though the house is relatively dry, I'm worried the garage is going to float away.

Anybody go canoeing on Hines Park Dr. today??

No, but I went water skiing on Grand River - nyuk, nyuk.

Basement sewer drain backed up in GP - about 1 inch or so, but just enough to ruin everything that was on the floor. Forced us to clean out the basement, but it will take a few days to get all the junk out of there.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

Ha ha. If you are looking for news, I would think you would want to hear stories of a basement without flooding. "Man bites dog. Now that's news!" Michigan = wet basements.

I am getting a long established water-level effect. When the earth gets over-saturated, the level rises enough to cause seepage through the cracks in my basement. Fortunately these form into tiny rivulets that thankfully wind their way to the drain. As long as that accepts the water, as it always has so far, I am fine. When it slows I wet vac up the remainder. Everything is long ago and consistently elevated.

The only solution, so I have been told, is to go into a costly sump pump system that would require digging around all the basement foundation, a quarter of which is impossible as the house is split level with the fourth basement wall under the house.

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Most suburb divisions with their bigfoot McMansions got to have required sump pumps because the most of the flat land along ago were densly swamps.

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Originally Posted by Ray1936

And you guys keep jumping all over me when I want to drop that pipeline in the lakes. Sheesh.

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Ray you are welcome to all the water from my basement you want. I'll even provide the shop vac and buckets. :)

The Clinton River is expected to crest at 19.2 feet, 3.2 feet over its flood height.

The new floating canoe dock on the Clinton in Utica's Heritage Park appears to be floating at the top of its piers. You'd have to take a canoe to it to launch a canoe. Its ramp is sloping upward:

Attachment 9805

There's a photo of it in normal conditions at Reasons To Hope - What Realized Developments Encourage You.

In southwest Utica, Davis Dr. is flooded north of River Vista St. but houses there are built on top of garages for just this reason. Cars are temporarily parked elsewhere.

Attachment 9803

A meager sandbag attempt on Nichols St. The Clinton can be seen just above them in the photo. The river is higher than the road in the foreground. This area has flooded in the past.

Attachment 9804

This is news? This was a common, almost annual occurrance while I was there.

You want flooding news? Read up on what's been happening along the Mississippi River over the last month or so.

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Originally Posted by Meddle

This is news? This was a common, almost annual occurrance while I was there.

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It may not be "news" but it's probably the worst flooding since 1973.

Great pix, Jimaz. Thx.

Thanks for the offer, Lowell, but the outlook for Lake Mead this year is excellent. For a change.

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Originally Posted by MikeM

Unless you live east of Ridge your storm drains are combined with the sanitary sewer system. The Farms' Kerby Road pumping station had a power outage that caused the pumps to get behind on the incoming flow. Not sure if they had the capacity to keep up even without the power disruption.

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Thanks for the info- I was wondering why we all the streets up near Mack were swamps but the streets closer to the lake were fine. I thought for a minute that all of those jokes we made about the rapture were coming back to bite us. :)

I remember the great flood of 1976. That was a monster in michigan

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Originally Posted by gazhekwe

I wonder if pouring the water into the basement sink is helping at all. Depending on which drain is backing up, might that water not just go right back into the flood?

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Few years ago there was high water in Rouge River through Lola Valley in Redford.
Water very very close to submerging the bridge for Garfield street.
Neighbors were watching 'Lola Valley Lake' and discussing how just a little more water would wash out the bridge.
Someone said "Guess we better not flush the toilets for awhile"

[[Not So) Pure Michigan: Monsoon Season- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLaVU...ature=youtu.be

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Originally Posted by gazhekwe

We have a plugged drain in back of our house, so we ended up with a trickle of water coming in at one edge of the basement. It politely went to the storm drain and left without making a big puddle. It did wet some boxes of records that happened to be right where it came in. We created a shunt for the backed up drain for now, hope to repair it once the rain stops. Elsewhere in Southfield, the Rouge and its tributaries and former tributaries are all at maximum capacity.

I wonder if pouring the water into the basement sink is helping at all. Depending on which drain is backing up, might that water not just go right back into the flood?

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Most homes have the sanitary sewer and the storm drain connected togther about 10 feet outside of the home, so if your basement is flooded there is a good chance it will not do any good unless the storm drain is plugged up before your storm drain joins with the sanitary sewer.

If the backyard is flooded and your pumping water down your basement sink, all your doing is simply making it someone elses problem, as adding more water into the sewer could potentially back up in someone elses basement if the system is near capacity, or the city has to deal with it at their retention basin.

Best solution is to pump the water to your backyard and let it soak into the ground

Yeah, parts of Southfield and Oak Park suffer the same fate. What is "Red Red"?

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Originally Posted by DTWflyer

Berkley & Royal Oak are notorious for being soggy in heavy rains. The area used to be swampland, is flat, and drains poorly. It doesn't help that they buried Red Red back in the 1920s so there are no natural drainage channels streams.

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Originally Posted by Zacha341

What is "Red Red"?

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Red Run Creek.


Wednesday's rain - over 3" across the north side of Detroit:

Attachment 9814



For the week, in Detroit, rain amounts over 600% of the normal for this period:

Attachment 9813

Utica's floating canoe launch floated right off a pier. They needed taller piers.

Attachment 9835

Attachment 9834

From the Detroit NWS office:

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Detroit Metro Airport has received 14.60 inches of preciptiation during the 2011 spring season, making it the 2nd wettest on record. The wettest spring on record for Detroit occurred in 1947 when 16.31 inches fell. Detroit's records date back to 1874.

To put the wet weather into another perspective, Detroit has had 52 days of measurable precipitation this spring including May 29. The average for spring is 37 days of measurable precipitation for Detroit. This places 2011 in first place for the most days of precipitation during the spring.

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The area was soaked to begin with. The morning of the 25th, Wayne County needed only an inch of rain in an hour or less than two inches in six hours to trigger flash-flood conditions:


http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ncrfc...52500Z_1hr.gif
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ncrfc...52512Z_6hr.gif



By the folowing day the entire region was extremely wet:


http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ncrfc...52612Z_1hr.gif

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

Utica's floating canoe launch floated right off a pier. They needed taller piers.

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Each pier is surrounded by a box containing four rollers. One of the rollers became caught on the edge of that pier as the flood receded. It's bent now. Maybe welding steel cones on top of the piers would suffice to guide the rollers over the edge more gracefully.

For aoife:

From: http://grossepointetoday.com/news/ci...s-city-council ...

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Tom Biehl of the engineering firm Hubbell, Roth & Clark briefed the council about the three major issues that occurred on May 25 that slowed the drainage process immensely. The first was that the storm exceeded a 100-year storm for a 24-hour period, dropping 2.7 inches of rain in an hour, and 4.2 inches in an 18-hour period. The Farms hasn’t experienced a storm of that degree since 1946, Biel said.

Second, the ground was already saturated from rainfall over the previous weeks, so the water immediately ran off into the combined sewage system.

Finally, power surges at the height of the storm reduced a number of the pumps’ capacity. It was only for a few minutes, but that was enough to complicate the problem.

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Also: http://grossepointe.patch.com/articl...e-pointe-farms ...

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As required by law, the Farms mailed residents who contacted the city regarding their flooded basement damage a letter and claims form. The letter outlines that if residents believe the Farms pumping system malfunctioned and the city should have had reasonable knowledge of the potential problem before it happened, they can file a claim with the city's insurance carrier.

Reeside said more than 200 homeowners have called to add their home to the list, which continues to grow. Only a handful of claims have been submitted thus far, however, Reeside said.

The claims will be submitted for the insurance carrier's review and the insurance carrier will accept or deny the claims, Reeside said. In situations such as these, the claims, he said, are unlikely to be accepted because the storm was an act of nature that could not have been controlled and the system worked as it should.

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Thanks for posting those articles MikeM. Cof D is investigating the source of our problems in Detroit south of Jefferson and west of Alter Rd. and East of Conner/Clairpointe Rd. Hopefully, they will be as forthcoming with us as GPF has been with its residents.