Many families in Dearborn have been hit hard by severe flooding for years. Now, the city is working on a fix to better protect homes and livelihoods in the future.
It comes after emotional public comment last night from homeowners who shared their personal stories of loss, and weighed in on the city's disaster recovery plan.
Flooding has been an issue for the city repeatedly, including in 2021, when torrential rain inundated thousands of homes.
Dearborn has $27 million in federal funding to spend on infrastructure projects to prevent major flooding, like the ones in 2014 and 2021.
"Every time it rains, I'm scared. I've got nothing in my basement. I've gone through my retirement funds just to get a new furnace because it cost me $3,000," Linda Ratcliffe said. "My insurance said, 'we can't cover you because you had sewage.' I had rat feces and feces and bugs for years. Every time it rains, I shake."
Tuesday's meeting was to hear feedback on the proposed amendments to the city's Disaster Recovery Action Plan, which has the backing of $27 million in federal funds.
The current plan primarily focuses on infrastructure projects to decrease water from entering the stormwater system and mitigate stormwater runoff in the process. It also supports environmental programs like replacing the proposed permeable pavement project with a green infrastructure initiative.
But for Linda, the bigger question is what the city is going to do for folks like her, still facing expensive personal losses.
"Is my house going to be less value now? Because I can't afford to replace anything in the basement," Ratcliffe asked.
Now, every time it rains, most folks are concerned about flooding, and not to mention the impact of future storms has many people worried.
Meanwhile, Dearborn residents have time until Thursday to submit feedback in writing. You can find more information on how to submit feedback on the city's website.
