DETROIT, MI - The city of Detroit has promised to help residents pay for damages after a major water main break submerged several Detroit streets in water on Monday.
Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes - including some carried by bulldozer - after a 54-inch water transmission main broke at Beard Street and Rowan Street early Monday morning, Feb. 17.
The break, which happened around 2 a.m., was on a steel pipe originally built in the 1930s, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). Several videos posted to social media showed people stuck in their homes surrounded by water.
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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the city's water department and the GLWA have agreed to split the costs of any repairs not covered by homeowners' insurance policies.
Duggan said the city is treating this as a failure of its water main system, rather than an "act of God," so that residents don't have to deal with the "bureaucracy" many have previously dealt with when submitting claims to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"I'm really pleased at the fact that there is no bureaucracy involved, that your uninsured damage will be split 50/50 between DWSD (Detroit Water and Sewerage Department) and GLWA," the mayor said in a news conference Monday afternoon.
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The city is also covering hotel stays, meals and transportation costs for residents displaced by the flooding, Duggan said. The Sonesta extended-stay hotels will be providing rooms for every family that has been displaced, the city said in a Facebook post.
"If you don't have power, don't have heat, you do not have to stay in your home," Duggan said. "We will get you into a good hotel room, get you food. It's a pet-friendly hotel system. You can stay there until water and heat turns back on."
The GLWA said crews had successfully isolated the break on the 54-inch water transmission main by 11:30 a.m. and that water levels were receding in the affected areas.
By 2 p.m., the city had rescued 54 adults, 22 children and 12 pets from the affected neighborhoods, Duggan said. Only one person was taken to the hospital for a breathing issue, but everyone had been evacuated safely.
A team of 80 city employees and community volunteers went knocking door-to-door on Monday evening to check on families impacted by the water main break and share resources available to help.
Duggan called the city's response to the water main break "remarkable" and said city officials had initially feared the worst. DWSD Director Gary Brown called in the U.S. Coast Guard to help evacuate residents because the flooding happened in a densely populated area, Duggan said.
"Where we are now is a far cry from where I thought we were going to be when Gary Brown woke me early this morning, to tell me we were facing the worst water main break he'd ever seen," Duggan said.
"I have not seen a time where a response to a water main break has been this quick and this effective."
The city has set up a hotline that residents can call for help or resources. Residents should call 313-774-5261 if their homes were damaged and they need a place to stay, or if they have other questions following the flooding, Duggan said.
The hotline will be staffed through Monday night and in the coming days to help residents, the city said.