ROMULUS, Mich. – Multiple roads in Romulus were covered in water because of heavy rainfall that brought several inches in the span of just a few hours.
“Obviously, the rain came down so fast, and you know, the flash flooding going on our city put a code red out right away that said, you know, try to avoid all the areas of the low road. And that’s what happened,” said Captain John Theide with the Romulus Fire Department.
The rain accumulation led to several drivers being stranded in their cars, like Ashley Pearson, who was stuck inside her vehicle for hours.
“It was very excruciating. I was in my car, stuck for about two to three hours. I was very scared because every corner was flooded,” Pearson said.
While drivers were having problems on roadways, some travelers were having issues in the sky with DTW issuing a ground stop, halting arrivals and departures for several hours. It proved to be a horrible day to be coming back home for Leah Brannon-Reeves.
“We flew, actually, from Germany. We came from Frankfurt, so it was a long flight. It was supposed to be eight and a half hours, but instead of landing at Detroit, we had to land at Cleveland, and we sat on the ground for probably an hour and a half before we could take off again. The plane had to get more fuel because it didn’t have enough to just circle until it could land,” Brannon-Reeves said.
The heavy rain also led to several downed power lines, leaving people like Calvin Crawford without electricity.
“I have no power, so I don’t even know what to do. I don’t know. Probably go get me a hotel room or something like that,” Crawford said.
While the water recedes, some have no choice but to walk through the water to get from point A to point B.
“I don’t want to wait for a long time,” said Aimen Hamzah. “So the road is the only way for me to get to my home. I came from Asia, and I’m used to this flood situation, so I can survive.”