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FILE -
In this
Saturday,
June 26,
2021,
file
photo, a
sign
warns of
high
water in
a
Detroit
neighborhood.
A
regional
water
authority
board
has
formed a
committee
to look
at the
agency's
response
to last
month's
heavy
rainfall
that led
to
basement
and
street
flooding
in
Detroit
and some
surrounding
suburbs.
(Max
Ortiz/Detroit
News via
AP) |
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Biden
OKs
disaster
declaration
after
Detroit-area
flooding |
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By COREY
WILLIAMS
apnews.com
WASHINGTON
DC - The
White
House
said
Thursday
that
President
Joe
Biden
has
approved
a
disaster
declaration
for
Michigan
due to
last
month’s
last
month’s
heavy
rainfall
that led
to
basement
and
street
flooding
in the
Detroit
area.
Word
that
Biden
ordered
federal
assistance
to
supplement
state
and
local
recovery
efforts
came a
day
after a
regional
water
authority
board
said it
was
forming
a
committee
to look
at its
response
to the
crisis.
The
committee
will
lead the
Great
Lakes
Water
Authority
board’s
independent
investigation
and hire
engineering
and
legal
firms to
assist
in the
review,
Michelle
Zdrodowski,
spokeswoman
for the
authority,
said in
an
email.
The
committee
includes
representatives
appointed
by Wayne
and
Macomb
counties,
and the
city of
Detroit.
A storm
dumped
more
than 6
inches
(15.2
centimeters)
of rain
June
25-26 on
the
area,
leaving
thousands
of
basements
and
dozens
of
streets
flooded.
Cars and
SUVs
stuck in
high
water
were
abandoned
on
flooded
freeways
and many
streets
were
impassable.
Two
water
pumping
stations
in
Detroit
experienced
power-related
problems
but did
not fail
during
the
rainstorm,
Great
Lakes
Water
Authority
Chief
Executive
Sue
McCormick
told
reporters
several
days
later.
McCormick
said
that due
to an
electrical
service
issue
only
three of
six
pumps at
one
station
were
able to
be
brought
online,
while a
power
outage
at a
second
station
slowed
efforts
to turn
three of
its
pumps on
as the
rain
poured.
“Not
only did
we
receive
a large
volume
of
precipitation,
but it
also
fell in
very
intense
bursts,”
she
said. “A
review
of the
gauge
data
indicated
the rain
event
was far
beyond
our
designed
standard.”
Candice
Miller,
public
works
commissioner
in
neighboring
Macomb
County,
earlier
had
called
for an
independent
investigation.
The
federal
declaration
also
makes
federal
grants
and
low-cost
loans
available
to
residents
and
business
owners
in
Detroit,
other
parts of
Wayne
County
and
Washtenaw
County
who were
affected
by the
storm.
Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
staffers
were in
Detroit
and
neighboring
communities
last
week
assessing
damage
from the
flooding.
After
the
storm,
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer
declared
a state
of
emergency
for
Detroit
and
surrounding
Wayne
County.
On
Tuesday,
20
residents
of the
suburb
of
Grosse
Pointe
Park
filed a
lawsuit
in Wayne
County
Circuit
Court
against
the
authority
alleging
that 8
feet
(2.4
meters)
of
wastewater
flooded
their
basements
through
sewer
lines.
The
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
and the
cities
of
Detroit
and
Grosse
Pointe
Park
also are
named in
the
lawsuit.
___
Williams
reported
from
West
Bloomfield,
Michigan.
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