Coastal Flood Mitigation Updates and Resources

2020
tiger dam

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On Monday March 16th, The City of Detroit will issue an Emergency Order to waterfront property owners in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood and surrounding properties affected by or threatened by coastal flooding in an effort to support mitigation of anticipated water levels in 2020 and threat posed to city infrastructure.

  • Beginning 3/16/2020, the City of Detroit Buildings Safety Environmental and Engineering Department will be addressing properties with conditions preventing access and installation of emergency measures.
  • Once a property is identified with conditions requiring remediation, the property owner will have 5 days to comply with the corrective action. 
  • If you have questions about your property, you can reach Donnie Wright, the District 4 BSEED Inspector at (313) 815-5542 or by email at [email protected].

Waterfront property owners can expect to see City of Detroit crews along with the US Army Corp of Engineers and subcontractors installing temporary barriers on public and private property beginning the week of March 30th.  These barriers are commonly known as Tiger Dams and have been recommended as a solution to support our continued efforts to prevent excess water from entering the combined storm water drainage system.  Other interventions may be used based on property conditions but Tiger Dams will be used predominately.  We expect to have this work completed by May 1 and there may be continued sandbagging efforts following this timeframe for a couple of weeks.

The presentation originally planned for the March 13th community meeting, which was cancelled due to public health precautions surrounding COVID-19, can be found on the city website at www.detroitmi.gov/flooding .  It gives and overview and description of the work outlined above.  There is also a link for submission of questions.

We strongly encourage occupants of waterfront and inland homes in the neighborhood to take the following measures immediately:

The following resources links and partners agencies may be helpful in exploring these recommendations:
https://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program

https://theplumbinginfo.com/how-does-a-sewer-backflow-preventer-work/

Jefferson East Inc. for heat, housing and health resources at                                        www.jeffersoneast.org or call (313) 331-7939

Wayne Metro Community Action Agency for water system and utility assistance in your home at https://www.waynemetro.org/energy-and-water-assistance/ or call (313) 388-9799

Donnie wright, the District 4 BSEED Inspector at (313) 815-5542 or by email at [email protected]

Detroit Water and Sewage Department for concern snot related to coastal flooding call (313) 267-8000.

For questions or concerns not covered by or related to the above resources, please contact:
Letty Azar, District 4 Manger can be reached at (313) 236-3518 or [email protected]
or
Dennis Perkins, District 4 Deputy District Manager (313) 236- 3520 or [email protected]

Additional areas information can be found:
www.detroitmi.gov/flooding
and
Two locations located within the community beginning the week of 3/23/2020:

  • The Manistique Treehouse, located on the 200 block of Manistique.
  • AB Ford parking lot area, previously used for staging during 2019 flooding efforts.