More than a year after storms and tornadoes ripped through Michigan, knocking out power for thousands, flooding freeways and leading to deaths and injuries, the federal government has granted $460.8 million in disaster recovery and prevention funds to the state, Wayne County and Detroit.
Detroit could use its share from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — about $346.8 million — to fix old alley drains and sewer lines that have led to basement backups, and build flood-resilient affordable housing, city officials announced on Wednesday. The grant is “historic,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Wednesday during a news conference.
“We’ve got a sewer system built to handle four inches of rain in a 24 hour period, which was great through the 20th century. We’ve now had two incidents where it’s been five and a half and six inches of rain, and what happens then is the basements in this city back up, and it is devastating to go downstairs and find three or four feet of raw sewage in your basement, lose your furnace, lose your dryer, lose your belongings,” Duggan said, alongside local and federal officials.
Detroit has 1,800 miles of alley sewer lines connected to homes and most were installed 70 to 90 years ago, he said. Tree roots block alley sewers, having grown over decades and infiltrating lines. That means any kind of rain poses a risk, Duggan said. Neighborhoods, such as Cornerstone Village, North Rosedale Park and the North End, have homes with blockages.
“We couldn’t possibly have the resources to address this on our own … This is an opportunity to make the homes in this city much more secure. It’s going to take years to rebuild, but this is a huge jump start,” Duggan said.
In 2024, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) cleaned 622 miles of sewer and 8,000 catch basins in the city, and is investing about $50 million a year in capital, replacing, cleaning and inspecting the sewer system, said Sam Smalley, DWSD chief operating officer.
Here is what to know about the additional funding:
What is the federal funding for?
The HUD funding is meant to help states, counties and cities recover from severe weather events, such as storms, floods and fires not already covered by insurance and other federal dollars. It is the only recovery aid that primarily helps low and moderate income communities. The assistance can be used to replace damaged affordable housing, repair and upgrade roads, water systems and utilities, support small businesses, and implement measures to reduce damage from future disasters, according to a news release.
Michigan’s recovery assistance is for the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding in late August 2023 — events which prompted a disaster declaration from President Joe Biden for nine counties in the state.
How can Detroit use its dollars?
City officials want to use the influx of aid to prevent basement backups for 10,000 Detroit homes over 2 years by fixing failing alley sewer lines and drains, and build new affordable housing. Detroit has 120 days to create a plan for how the dollars will be used. The city aims to host community engagement events to gather feedback from residents, according to a news release. For more information, go to bit.ly/DetroitDisasterRecovery.
The administration needs to send the action plan to HUD for approval. Then, it would go to Detroit City Council for approval to appropriate the dollars. Duggan said he wants to send the city’s grant proposal to HUD in the next 60 days. The funding has guidelines for how it can be used. In this case, the money can be used to prevent future disasters, Duggan said.
Detroit’s aid comes from a pool of nearly $12 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for areas across the country ravaged by disasters. In the past, Detroit has received $95 million in HUD funding following 2021 flooding.
“While no two disasters are alike, whether it’s devastating wildfires out West, tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest, or hurricanes along the east coast and in the Gulf, people whose lives are impacted have the same needs. They’re looking for a safe and secure place to come home and hope for the future,” said Kera Package, deputy assistant secretary for grant programs at HUD. “We’ve heard from communities and families continually about the need for repair to homes, cities who need improvements to infrastructure to minimize future risks…”
Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @NushratR.
Greetings, I am a Detroiter, I was deeply affected by both storms. I lost everything in my basement. Over 15,000 dollars. I was denied by both GLWA and DWSD. FEMA only gave me about 2,00 dollars. Why is it that now receiving a blessing of about 500. million in federal aid the suggestion of helping those who were disregarded as well as told SO WHAT, get OVER IT. Haven’t been consider. My basement is still messed up. I had to replace walls and carpeting paneling, and my bathroom needs redoing still. Contractors are expensive. I would appreciate some financial assistance. I didn’t cause the floods.