DETROIT (WXYZ) — The city says it’s on track in replacing the dozens of furnaces and hot water heaters necessary to get hundreds of Detroiters displaced by the water main break back into their homes. Some never left.
“It feels great because now I have heat in the house and warm water,” Jesus Hernandez said.
The necessities can feel like luxuries when you’ve been without them for nearly a month. We met Hernandez as city contractors installed a new furnace and hot water heater at his home, which he and his family never left. It’s just one of many impacted during February’s water main break.
“I’m pleased to say that two weeks in, of the 110 furnaces, half have been replaced already. We have seven contractors with 15 crews inside the houses today,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Duggan went on to say that of the 90 hot water heaters that need to be replaced, 60 are already installed.
“We’ve got a cadence going now where we’re going to be able to rip through this work in the next couple of weeks,” said Gary Brown, Director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
While the city says that homes that experienced burst pipes and others with more significant problems pre-dating the water main break will take a bit longer, it’s still moving at a rapid pace to get displaced residents back into their homes.
“We’ve already gone from 200 families in hotels down to 100, and we have 30 right now in process,” Duggan said.
City provides update on help for SW Detroit residents after water main break
The next step is addressing insurance claims for damaged property like washers, dryers, and cars. Sherry Luszczynski is especially concerned about the latter.
“Between the two houses, we lost six vehicles; we were all forced to get new vehicles that we weren’t expecting to buy, and the fact that my insurance went up because the claims popped up on the insurance,” Luszczynski said.
Officials expect to replace all furnaces & water heaters in SW Detroit by next week
“We’re certainly going to cover any deductibles that any of the residents had on their vehicle or home, and we’re going to make them whole with either repairing their car or buying it straight out,” Brown said.
The Great Lakes Water Authority and the DWSD are splitting the cost for residents’ damaged property that’s not covered by insurance. The price tag could be upwards of $10 million.
GLWA is mulling how soon it can return the water main to service. In the meantime, it’s working to reopen Beard Street, which has been closed since the water main break.
