A Second Flood Leaves Detroit Residents Cleaning Out Basements, Again

(CBS DETROIT) - The city of Detroit is offering to clean-up basements for qualified residents hit hard by the floods but neighbors on Lakewood Street say there's been no help in sight.

Lakewood Street Flooding | Credit: Cryss Walker

After two major floods in just three weeks, they say their homes can't take another backup.

Charles Brooks is a property owner on Lakewood Street on Detroit's Eastside.

"My walls are buckling right now and we're talking about concrete and cinder block walls buckling," said Brooks.

He says he's been sending complaints to the city since March about sewer issues that are causing basements to flood.

"Friday at 6 p.m. we came to the house, came across the street, we got over four feet of water. It's all the way up the basement steps," said Brooks.

Brooks owns two properties on the street.

This compound serves both as the headquarters to Unique Construction and his private residence.

Across the street, is a home he's rehabbing.

Brooks said, "Four and five feet of water in your basement. Nine feet here. This is something that's out of the norm."

So, the back-to-back floods on June 25 and July 16 hit him twice as hard.

Brooks is now calling on the city to fix a backed-up sewer line before another rainstorm devastates his street.

"The only city truck that's been over here is the one picking up the garbage. But no leaders, no. Where are our leaders at? Lakewood has been hit hard from I-94 all the way to Jefferson," said Brooks.

DWSD spokesperson Bryan Peckinpaugh says technicians are aware of the problem on Lakewood Street and crews will be soon sent out.

"We have hired contractors, emergency contracts to assists our crews in going out and cleaning the sewers where there are multiple houses and clusters that are affected. We will make sure that we get over to Lakewood. I can't give you an exact timeline but within the next few days we'll be over there to assists these homeowners," said Peckinpaugh.

Brooks said that something needs to be done.

"So we're begging and pleading that if any leader is looking at this to get down here and see the people," said Brooks.

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