(WWJ) Metro Detroiters who live near water are still dealing with high wakes and sandbags -- as record-high lake levels are causing wide-spread property damage to docks, berms, boats, and more.
Sand bags line the yards of people who live on Ashland, at the Grosse Pointe-Detroit border. And still it's hard to tell where the water ends and the yard begins.
One Detroit resident, Luthern Jones, told WWJ's Charlie Langton the water was so high last night on Ashland Street he couldn't get into his driveway.
"I guess I have to wear swimming trunks at all times," he told Langton, laughing.
Others are begging boaters to relax and keep the wake flowing over their berms to a minimum.
"Please be so kind as to advise boaters to slow down in the Detroit River as their wakes are killing us on the shoreline at Belle Isle/Fleming Chanel," oen listener wrote in an email to Entercom Detroit. "This is a huge problem damaging property, docks, break walls, lawns etc. This is a very disastrous issue during this time of record high water levels."
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has extra marine patrols out, enforcing no-wake zones among other things.
"Your boat may create a wake that seems harmless, but it could cause a turbulence in an already flooded area," Lt. Tom Wanless of the DNR said in the news release.
Detroit is giving out sand bags. But overall, they're telling people to be patient and wait for water levels to go down.
"This is the worst I've ever seen and I've lived here since 1973," Jones said. "It's a constant flow, a constant flow coming from the canal."
So, how high is it?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says forecasted water levels on Lake Superior, Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair are all expected to break records set in the early 1950s and middle 1980s because of heavy rainfall. While new record highs are not currently forecasted for Lake Michigan, Lake Huron or Lake Ontario -- very high water levels are expected there as well.
Water levels this year are in position to break several of the records previously set in 1986.
