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Communities brace for more after rain overwhelms SE Mich. water system
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Emergency responders are bracing for more power outages and, even worse, more potential flooding as forecasts call for more scattered thunderstorms this week following a weekend deluge that overpowered southeast Michigan s infrastructure.
Large amounts of rainfall within 12 hours overwhelmed sewers in Detroit, freeway pump stations and basements around Metro Detroit. Community leaders cite the storm as a result of climate change and fear the increased likelihood of more intense rainfalls that sewers and freeway pump stations aren t prepared to handle. Experts say the weekend s devastation shows the need for the infrastructure funds being discussed at the state and federal levels, especially with rain expected to continue through Thursday.
Credit Courtesy: City of Detroit
Water ran from a fire hydrant, down the street and into a recently redesigned street median in Detroit last week.
It was both unassuming and a demonstration of the city’s single largest investment in green stormwater infrastructure: infrastructure that uses natural processes like the ability of soil and plants to filter and store water. The 10 reworked street medians on Oakman Boulevard will help manage 37.3 million gallons of stormwater a year, easing the burden on the city’s wastewater system and reduce basement flooding.
In August 2014, historic and deadly flooding took Detroit by surprise. Heavy rains submerged interstate highways, swamped vehicles, filled basements and caused an estimated billion dollars in damage.
A broken water pipe shuttered the 144-room hotel starting March 10
Hotel also severed franchise agreement, grapples with CMBS delinquency
Kirk Pinho/Crain s Detroit Business
The Trumbull and Porter Hotel in Corktown closed about two months ago due to a broken water pipe on its property.
The Trumbull and Porter Hotel in Detroit s Corktown neighborhood has shuttered for nearly two months but plans to reopen by the end of the week.
An early March pipe break forced the closure of the 144-room hotel at 1331 Porter St. plus the Red Dunn Kitchen restaurant, which should open by Memorial Day, said Barry Caplan, managing principal and COO of Celebration, Fla.-based Access Hotels & Resorts, which manages the hotel for owner Leo Lee.
“Water is life, water is power, water is a right.”
So said Chicago Reverend Marilyn Pagan-Banks, to the sound of lapping waves on Lake Michigan, during a recent webinar promoting a proposed ordinance that would ensure drinking water access for all Chicagoans during the pandemic and beyond.
Even before the pandemic, Chicago had a moratorium on water shutoffs. Nonetheless, thousands of households are still without water, showing just how difficult ensuring water access can be. The situation also underscores the water security crisis that has long existed in many Great Lakes communities, which may get worse as shutoff moratoria imposed during the pandemic expire.