Intense rainfall causes flooding at UM-Dearborn

The extreme rainfall this weekend has left metro Detroiters coping with flooded roadways and basements, and the UM-Dearborn campus appears to have experienced some of the heaviest rainfalls. According to the rain gauge at the Environmental Interpretive Center, 6.7 inches of rain fell between 9 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday, triggering flooding in the Fieldhouse, the CASL Building, the Mardigian Library, the Environmental Interpretive Center and most of the parking lots on campus.

Executive Director for Facilities Operations Carol Glick says her teams responded quickly to the situation — some even coming to campus on flooded streets in the middle of the night to help out. Glick says that immediate response, “kept a difficult situation under control and reduced the impact of the flooding on our campus.”

Remediation activities will continue throughout the week, but all impacted buildings other than CASL are resuming scheduled activities as of today. “A number of buildings have fans and dehumidifiers running so please use care in navigating these areas,” Glick said in a campus communication. “We also have in-house and contracted restoration crews in a number of buildings extracting carpets and opening walls. Our Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) team will assure that everything dries completely. Carpets will be extracted and sanitized.  Walls will be opened up to assure that moisture does not remain behind them.”

On the bright side, research buildings were relatively unaffected, and the flooding is not expected to impact on-campus classes, which are scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Those planning on traveling should be aware that I-94 will remain closed Monday from Rotunda to I-75. Governor Whitmer has also declared a state of emergency for Wayne County to help residents recover from the extreme weather event.