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Act now to prevent future flooding disaster

Disastrous flooding across Metro Detroit last weekend damaged vehicles, stranded motorists, flooded basements and closed freeways for days. This isn’t the first time flooding has brought the region to a standstill, but it should be the last.

Our state’s elected leaders must ensure this never happens again.

Detroit was especially hit hard, with some areas seeing seven inches of rain. The downpour mixed with power outages caused massive flooding on major roadways, including Interstates 75 and 94. A similar flooding event happened in 2014.

While weather is unpredictable, there is a solution: Fix the underground freeway water pump stations.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has made infrastructure a central issue, drew attention to the need for a broader funding plan at a press conference Monday. She has declared a state of emergency for Wayne County and is working with federal agencies to get funding.

“What we need is a comprehensive investment in infrastructure at the state level and at the federal level,” Whitmer said.

Dozens of pumping stations lay beneath the city’s interstates. In fact, 140 of the state’s 166 stations are in the Metro area. They drain water from roadways and pump it into local creeks and rivers.

But last weekend, three issues arose that led these safety features to fail: power outages, a lack of places to send water and the poor condition of the machines.

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, these issues affected 28 of its pumps.

Power outages lined I-94 and just like home sump pumps, when the power goes out, water cannot be stopped. MDOT did move generators into some of the stations to get water moving, but it could not power all the stations.

Back-up generators should be installed in stations so when power is inevitably lost in the future, the drains can continue to remove water. But even while water was being drained, there were times when the pumps had nowhere to send it, said Jeff Cranson, director of communications for MDOT, in an email.

The creeks and rivers typically used as dumping grounds for the water were themselves overflowing. This could be alleviated by creating more dumping zones for excess water.

Above all, the dismal conditions of the pump stations must be repaired. MDOT says 40% of the state’s 166 stations are in “poor” condition.

Lance Binoniemi, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, says there hasn’t been money in the budget to make the repairs and that underground infrastructure gets ignored until there is a crisis.

Most of the stations were built in 1960 and repairs have been ongoing since early 2000. Data provided by MDOT shows $25 million has been spent since 2016 on repairing the pumps and another $27 million is slated to be spent through 2025.

What the past two major rain events have shown is these repairs can’t be delayed. Officials must make sure the state’s largest freeways are able to handle the next rainstorm.

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