DETROIT (WWJ) -- Thunderstorms moved across metro Detroit late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, causing widespread flooding in the area.
City officials are now asking for the community's help to prevent further damage. City councilman Andre Spivey says "all hands on deck are needed" throughout the rest of the week to lay sandbags in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood on the city's east side.
"We're going to have to put tens of thousands of bags of sand down in the next three or four days in this neighborhood," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. "We are asking for members of the community, go to the city website, and if you can give us two hours Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, we need your help."
"We know that the river usually crests in early June and we already are seeing levels much higher than what is normal for that time," Duggan said. "We expect the levels to continue to rise over the next several weeks and we are asking for volunteers to join with city employees and myself to come to the aid of these residents."
Jan Ellison, who lives on Harbor Island Street near Jefferson and Chalmers Streets, says the problem is homeowners who haven't properly maintained their seawalls.
"I'm recommending for people who have low seawalls and low property, over this period of time, you need raise your property, you need to fix your seawalls, because mine might be high, but if next door's low, I'm going to get water on my property," Ellison told WWJ's Sandra McNeill.
City inspectors will be out in the neighborhood checking on the condition of the seawalls. They say homeowners will be given a warning, not a fine right away.
It's not just the rain that is threatening flooding in this neighborhood. Officials say extremely high water levels on Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and Lake Erie, as well as easterly winds, are all contributing to the flooding.
Officials say about 100 homes are threatened in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood.
Duggan says homeowners who live along the river have a legal obligation to maintain a seawall that's high enough to keep the river from breaching.
