Residents in southwest Detroit have been forced from their homes and sent to hotels after a water pipeline burst, flooding neighbourhoods before a flash freeze that damaged nearly 400 homes and left snow-covered vehicles frozen and inoperable.
Crews had to use inflatable boats to get through the knee-deep water while rescuing around 200 people and 12 pets. They have now excavated around the site where the transmission main burst, and a replacement has been ordered for a 3.7-metre section of pipe that is being removed and should be on site within a day, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority. The water main won’t be back in service for at least two weeks.
The flood began on Monday around 2 a.m., when a 54-inch (1.4-metre) steel water main, built around 1930, suddenly burst. It sent torrents of water coursing out in all directions from an ever-widening crater. More than 90 people had to be helped from their homes.
Some were hauled by firefighters through waist-deep water in rubber rafts. At least several made it to safety in the bucket of a front loader construction vehicle.
Officials are still trying to determine what caused the huge pipe to burst. Temperatures were well below freezing at the time of the break and water and ice were as deep as 1.5 metres in some of the areas.
“The exact cause isn’t known but it’s most likely a combination of aging infrastructure and freezing temperatures,” city spokesperson John Roach said in a statement.
The City of Detroit will use funds from its water and sewerage department and the water authority to pay for hotel rooms and food for the displaced residents. It will also repair and pay for uninsured damage to furnaces and hot water heaters as well as clean out basements, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.
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“If you don’t have power, you don’t have heat, don’t have water, you do not have to stay in your home,” Duggan said Monday. “We will get you into a good hotel room.”
“There are very few houses where it doesn’t have water,” Duggan said during a press conference at police headquarters. “Most of the water main breaks … are a small break on the water main line and you see a whole block go down. That didn’t happen here. This was a main transmission line. The lines, with exception of three blocks today, were still intact.”
“This issue will not be restoring water, it will be a question of how fast we can replace furnaces.”
The waters receded later Monday morning after the break was found and the water flow stopped. By Tuesday, there were 72 homes without electricity, 190 flooded basements and 174 homes left without heat.
Many snow-covered vehicles were stuck in water up to their wheel wells or engine hoods until the water finally drained. The bottoms of their tires remained encased in ice Wednesday and frozen to the pavement.
Crews are expected to begin clearing out some of the homes that weren’t severely impacted on Thursday, according to Gary Brown, director of the city’s water department.
“We have a team of people that are used to doing this kind of work and you’re going to see us get through these homes pretty quickly,” Brown said.
“The main thing is to get the homes back so that people can live in them again,” he continued. “Let’s get the furnaces, the hot water tanks sanitized and clean so people can get back into them. That’s the phase that we’re in now.”
On Wednesday, Southwestern Public Health issued a boil water advisory to all users of Southwold Water Supply “as a precaution due to a watermain break, which may lead to back siphonage and the potential presence of bacteria in the water.”
“Dr. Ninh Tran, the Medical Officer of Health, advises all users of Southwold Water Supply to bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute before using it for drinking, preparing infant formula and juice, brushing teeth, washing raw foods, or making ice,” the advisory read.
With most of the vehicles in the area frozen in place, residents are encouraged to use Uber for free rides to get to and from work and to get essentials like groceries but the rides have to be ordered through the city by calling the emergency hotline, according to the Detroit News. The emergency line can also be used if residents need a place to stay and if they need furnaces or water heaters replaced.
—With files from The Associated Press