Another round of flooding hits metro Detroit roadways, neighborhoods

(WWJ) -- As hundreds of thousands of metro Detroiters remained without power and battled the heat late Thursday afternoon, multiple roadways across the area were experiencing flooding yet again, making for a messy commute home.

Metro Detroit saw another round of storms roll through the area Wednesday and early Thursday morning, bringing another round of flooding. At least two major freeways in the Detroit area remained closed into the evening, including westbound I-94 after 8 Mile, which caused major backups.

Another major roadway affected by flooding was M-39, the Southfield Freeway, which was closed in both directions near Ford Road.

Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Transportation officials were warning drivers about the dangers of attempting to drive through flood waters.

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Diane Cross of MDOT says it's not only the heavy rain that's causing issues across the metro area -- the power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of people also knocked out power to pump stations.

As for using generators to get the pumps back up and running, Cross says it's not as simple as it sounds.

"There's a lot to it. It's not something you can just go get one and bring it to the location. It's not like your house," Cross said.

She also noted there aren't that many generators MDOT can use, estimating they have about six.

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Aside from trouble on the roads, many neighborhoods in metro Detroit are dealing with standing water for at least the third time this summer. Earlier this year, many people in southeast Michigan had to deal with disasters in their basements.

On Thursday in Dearborn Heights, residents were presented with a scene they've encountered far too often. Residents along Hanover Street, bordering the Ecorse River, were dealing with a flooded street

Marco, who lives at the corner of Hanover and Westpoint Streets, says three feet of standing water has led to a sinkhole in his backyard.

"It's not a pretty site," he said. "It's sad, because it's not a secret -- the city knows what's going on. It's just a matter of helping the residents. I mean, no one's saying nothing, no one's doing nothing. It's a recurring issue."

It was a "triple-whammy" of sorts for many people -- not just in Dearborn Heights, but across southeast Michigan -- as sweltering heat reaching into the upper 80s with the heat index approaching triple digits put the "cherry on top" of the flooding and power outages.

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