CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Boots or barefoot: that’s how residents in a Chesterfield Township neighborhood were getting around Thursday with their streets covered in water.
Cars were stalled out as neighbors waded through the water to help.
“She stalled because it’s almost 2-and-a-half-feet,” neighbor Mark Rodolfo said as he helped a woman push her car off his street. He’s lived in the neighborhood since 1997 and says it’s the second time his street flooded in just four weeks.
“We thought after the first time, someone would address it. But I don't think it’s been addressed,” Rodolfo said of his street flooding. “I don’t think it’s even been looked at.”
His daughter Jennifer Rodolfo says she’s been calling the township and county hoping to get answers as to why their streets are the ones under water. From Chopper 7, it almost looks like the homes are on canals instead of streets.
“They should use a kayak,” Jennifer said with a laugh while looking at a car plowing through the water. “This is a risk.”
”We got a lot of rain in a short period of time,” Macomb County Emergency Management Director Brandon Lewis said. “Rainfall events that produce 2 to 3 inches an hour are not usual around here… we’ve seen quite a few of those this summer.”
Lewis says streets in Harrison and Clinton townships also flooded, but Rodolfo’s neighborhood appears to be one of the hardest hit.
“It’s not the first time,” resident Bob Ross said. “Getting tired of it.”
While neighbors have concerns about the drainage, generally speaking, Lewis believes it’s likely due to an abnormal amount of rain.
“It's not really a significant infrastructure issue — the infrastructure is working,” Lewis said. “What you're getting is just a significant rainfall we’re not used to seeing and it's just taking that infrastructure time to clear that out.”
“It's just everywhere. The water is everywhere,” Jennifer Rodolfo said.
As homeowners wait for it to clear, their sump pumps are getting quite a work out, keeping almost all of the basements dry. But in anticipation for the next storm, residents hope there’s something that can be done.
“I don't really care who does it, but I really want it fixed,” Mark Rodolfo said.
