Flooding in VBT closes roads, fills houses with water

The two to three inches of rain that fell on the tri-community early May 1 left some roadways flooded and filled two houses on McBride Avenue in Van Buren Township with water.
VBT police sent out flooding alerts, warning motorists to avoid Belleville Road between Van Born and Michigan Avenue, Beck Road between Ecorse and Van Born, and southbound Haggerty at Ecorse.
Carleton West Road between Wear and Willow was closed in Sumpter Township because of heavy flooding over the road.
Anthony Debias at 46796 McBride, across the new roadway from McBride Middle School, had a crawl space full of water, three feet of water in his garage with a new car and a classic vehicle, and a foot of water in the lower level of his tri-level, ruining a couch and TV among other things.
He said water was coming in the screen door.
And, his next-door neighbor had water in his house, as well.
Debias estimates $20,000 to $30,000 worth of damage for him. He said his homeowners’ insurance won’t cover his flood loss, but his insurance carrier is working to get him possible assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He said last summer when construction crews were upgrading and asphalting McBride, workers covered the culverts between him and his neighbor. He said he told the workers, but they went ahead anyway. And, that’s where the flood is.
He said the water is coming from the northwest through his back yard.
The drains are business of Wayne County, he said, and they weren’t responding to his calls that morning, so he called the township. Debias said three to four Van Buren Township workers came out, blocked off the road in front of his house, and pumped away what water they could.
He said when the parents started arriving at McBride to pick up their students, the vehicles drove over the hoses and so the township reeled them back in, vowing to come back later after the traffic stopped.
Debias said he was really impressed with the Van Buren Township workers who were so nice to him and did what they could to help, even though it was the county’s problem.
Debias said his wife was working from home that day because the new car she drives to work was in the flooded garage and parts of it were flashing. He said he doubts that they can salvage the car because of damage to the electronics.
Debias said he experienced the Johnstown Flood in Ohio in 1977 when people lost their lives and this isn’t as bad as that, but it still is very disconcerting. He went to Meijer to buy some boots and all they had was size 14, so he plodded around in the water in his yard in extra-large boots.