Heavy rain and flooding in the Detroit area has trapped thousands of vehicles on local roads, according to Michigan State Police, and left thousands without power.
State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said live on WWJ that his department is activating the dive team to search some of the vehicles that are completely submerged. Motorists are encouraged not to drive through standing water.
Throughout the region, flooding has caused power outages and traffic disturbances, including road closures.
Wayne County Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness teams were out assessing flood damage this morning and there are reports of flooding in Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Inkster. So far, it does not seem that the Wayne County storm systems have hit capacity, though some local systems may have.
"Service for customers in the Detroit area may be affected by flooding after recent heavy rainfall. Our teams are on site and working as quickly as possible to restore service," said AT&T in a response to a WWJ inquiry regarding service outages.
"AT&T Mobility / Cellular service is experiencing a network service outage impacting the ability to deliver AT&T Mobility wireless 9-1-1 calls in your area," said an alert sent out to Northville Township residents. "AT&T teams are engaged and working to fully isolate and resolve the issue. The specific cause of the service outage has not yet been determined. Due to this service outage, you may experience interruptions or degradation to Wireless 9-1-1 calls made in the affected area."
Anyone using an AT&T cellular device in the area can contact Northville Community Dispatch on the business line 248-349-9400.
As of 11:10 a.m. Saturday, Wayne State University -- the largest college in Detriot -- said it would close its campus due to the flooding. Only essential operations will remain open, including critical research, campus housing and the Campus Health Center.
More than 40,000 homes are also reported to be without power in the Detroit area.
In addition to stranding cars, and power outages, stormwater has flooded basements completely and waterways such as the Clinton River have flooded their banks.
Onlookers say the rain “looks like a hurricane,” on Twitter.
Police say that everyone should avoid the stormwater if possible.
When will it end? No one knows. Periodic thunderstorms are expected to continue throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service.
“I’m closely monitoring flooding events across the state. This morning, I’ll be meeting with our state’s emergency response coordinators for a full briefing as we work to get resources to affected areas,” said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Saturday morning.
The city of Detroit also announced it is working to help address flooding issues.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that FEMA funding has been requested to help with the funds and that an emergency call center for those who have property damage can be reached at 313-267-8000.