- Record, one-day rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems.
- One to three inches of rain fell throughout metro Detroit.
- More downpours, on Friday and Saturday, are expected.
Record rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems in southeast Michigan, leaving many in metro Detroit to wake up Thursday to what forecasters had warned them about: flooded streets and homes.
A WXYZ-TV newscaster, who was reporting for Channel 7 in waders and tall rubber boots, said the water was so deep on one eastside Detroit street that it “looked like a river.” He also described a Lincoln Park homeowner using a bucket to bail basement water.
A brief respite from the rain appears to be coming later Thursday, as the rain stops, the flood warning for four counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw — ends at about 10 a.m., and the temperatures rise into the mid-60s.
But more downpours, on Friday and Saturday, are expected.
“It’s going to be a pretty active next few days going into next week,” National Weather Service meteorologist Sara Schultz in White Lake Township said early Thursday, as flooding reports began to come in. “Detroit and Flint both broke a record for daily max rainfall.”
Talk about April showers.
In some parts of the Thumb, there also was hail.
Thunderstorms pummeled southeast Michigan, bringing 1-3 inches of rain.
Flooding reports have been trickling in, Schultz said, including Detroit, Dearborn Heights — and parts of Downriver, all low-lying areas that often flood whenever there is a heavy downpour.
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At Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, where official rainfall measurements are taken, a new record — 2.18 inches — was set for Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 1.44 inches in 1945.
In Flint, the new record was 1.75 inches, besting the record of 1.62 inches also set in 1945.
There was more rainfall, Schultz said, in other areas: Pittsfield, near Ann Arbor, had 3.07 inches, and Sterling Heights, 2.64 inches. It was not clear whether the downpours set records there.
In many places, by early morning, the standing water was beginning to drain away.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].
