(WWJ) - There will be no relief for roughly 24,000 homeowners whose basements flooded during an unprecedented rain event seen in the summer of 2021 across Metro Detroit.
Officials with the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) announced Tuesday that they are denying all claims submitted to the company related to the historic flooding last year after an independent investigation found heavy rainfall to be the primary cause.
Residents had previously blamed the GLWA for a failed sewage and drainage system. WWJ's Charlie Langton reported.
The Authority made the decision based on two critical factors discovered by the probe: widespread basement flooding was inevitable due to the amount of rain that fell on the region and even if all piping and equipment in the company's regional system worked to their fullest capacity, flooding would've still occurred.
Michigan law states the city or the GLWA would've been held responsible if there was a defect that it knew, or should've known about, that it failed to fix and was more than 50% at fault for the flooding.
The full report is available here.
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Officials said claimants will receive a notification about the decision this week.
“We understand the difficult situations homeowners and businesses face when flooding occurs,” Suzanne Coffey, GLWA’s chief executive officer, said in a press release on Tuesday. “We are experiencing increased frequency and intensity of storms hitting our region. This is why it’s critical to focus on building resiliency in the regional system."
From June 25 to the 26th, 2021, 6 to 8 inches of rain fell within 24 hours across Metro Detroit, submerging freeways and swallowing homes.
Langton said suits will more than likely be submitted "soon" to challenge the findings.
Denied claims will more than likely include submissions for flood damage in neighborhoods across Detroit and Dearborn on July 16, 2021. Although not as bad as flooding seen the month prior, hundreds of properties were reportedly damaged.
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