This post was authored by Serena Maria Daniels.
[A disaster filmed by instagram user bloody_fingers]
Basement flooding is pretty nasty and a lot of people in Hamtramck are dealing with it, following the thunderstorm pummeling that hit on Monday. Mayor Karen Majewski says the city's emergency manager is taking steps this week to hopefully ease the decades-old problem in the two-square mile city. According to the Mayor, the emergency manager is pursuing a loan for the first of three phases of the city sewer improvement plan. Unfortunately, they won't know until September if they are going to make the priority list for that loan. More Mayoral announcements can be found here.
Hamtramck's densely constructed, 90-plus year-old housing stock is relatively sturdy, many having been converted into affordable two-flats, appealing to immigrant families and artists alike. Alas, Mother Nature remains among the biggest quality of life issues for residents. During the winter when territorial neighbors have to shovel out their parking spots, the streets are inundated with lawn chairs and car seats placing dibs, a time-honored tradition with roots in Chicago When the weather nears or exceeds triple digits, it's not uncommon for many a resident or merchant to experience rolling blackouts. And as illustrated by Monday's storms, heavy rains inevitably result in flooded basements.
Local landlords have encouraged tenants to keep water usage to a minimum until the flooding subsides. Extra garbage trucks will be out on the trash pickup routes this week to help clear out the influx of trash cleaned out from ravaged basements.