State police diver checks vehicle Saturday.

State police diver checks vehicle Saturday.

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Google Maps shows the extent of freeway closures Sunday morning

Update, Sunday morning: Much of Wayne County continues to mop, squeegee, bail and curse the floodwaters that inundated the area Friday night and Saturday morning. Portions of many area freeways remain closed, as workers struggle to remove scores of abandoned and disabled cars left behind in the deluge.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Wayne County Saturday afternoon, which gives state and federal authorities authorization to coordinate recovery efforts.

Although the sheer volume of the rainfall is the primary culprit in the disaster, mechanical and infrastructure failures played a part as well. The east side was particularly hard-hit, following the failure of the Conner Creek Pumping Station on Jefferson; the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood and others were inundated from above and below, as water rose in streets and basements. Freeway flooding was said to be aggravated by the failure of dozens of pumps intended to remove standing water from roads.


Update, 2:30 p.m. Saturday: Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Deparment, said at an afternoon press conference that the city was expecting about two inches of rain, but got up to seven inches.

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State police diver assures this vehicle is empty. (Photo: Michigan State Police)

"The intensity of these storms exceeded the designed standards for pump stations and combined sewer overflow facilities serving the Detroit region, which are operated by the Great Lakes Water Authority," he said. "With this much rain there’s nowhere for the water to go other than flooding streets and basements. This is another example of global warming and how our infrastructure needs to be more resilient to meet these weather changes.""The system is now returning to normal operations levels."

Another inch of rain is forecast for tonight, which he said shouldn't be a problem. If about three inches fall, Brown, warned, more flooding would be likely.

He warned not to walk in flooded areas of the home where there might be electrical issues and not to drive through flooded streets. He also advised to remove valuables to upper floors. 

To report damage, read below. 

Saturday morning reports:

Several inches of overnight rain across Metro Detroit flooded highways, streets and basements overnight. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded and some trapped motorists needed rescues, according to the state police, which summoned troopers to start Saturday shifts early and sent divers to look inside submerged vehicles. 

All major freeways reportedly have or had issues with flooding and abandoned cars. "Our marine service team is out here checking vehicles," First Lieutenant Mike Shaw of the state police says in a two-minute video from alongside I-94 in Southwest Detroit just before noon. "We've been very fortunate not to have anybody that's [drowned] yet."

Mayor Mike Duggan says in a six-tweet thread that he spoke to the governor Saturday morning and requests federal emergency aid.  

"We might be back in this same situation later today," warns Lt. Shaw of the state police, noting that more rain is forecast. "If you happen to be stuck out here in the middle of one of these freeway systems and you call 911, please be patient," he adds from the I-94 Service Drive at 30th Street (pictured atop this roundup). "We'll get to you as soon as we can [with a tow truck], but realize we're trying to battle through the same flooded roadways." 

The governor tweets at 12:40 p.m. that she "activated the Michigan State Emergency Operations Center in response to flooding across the state."

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Flooding on I-94 and Trumbull in Detroit 

Fox 2 Detroit reports:

The problems stretch beyond the freeways, however. A Detroit firefighter told Fox 2's Amy Lange that most roads in the city are impassable and that every fire company has been out all night responding calls.

The firefighter said there are probably 1,000 cars underwater and two fire engines had to be towed from the flooding.

A Detroiter tweets:

The mayor posts:

Here are some of the rainfall reports we have received over the last 24 hours (most are a 24-hr total). You can see all of our local storm reports here: https://t.co/3SpEJRgSzU pic.twitter.com/W5bTBkTNZN