Metro Detroit counties are under a flood watch through late Thursday night, and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is asking residents to cut their water use now to help the city’s sewer system handle what’s coming.
The request isn’t precautionary in the abstract. Southeast Michigan received 1.5 to 4.5 inches of rainfall over the past 10 days, saturating the ground before the spring green-up, according to the National Weather Service’s Detroit/Pontiac office. Detroit’s sewer system is already working harder than usual. Adding another 1 to 1.5 inches of rain expected between Tuesday night and Thursday night puts neighborhoods with low-lying basements at real risk of backups.
What DWSD Is Asking You to Do
Skip the dishwasher and the laundry washer while the rain is coming down. If your home has a backwater valve installed, that means toilets, drains, baths, and showers too, at least while it’s actively raining. The valve can’t do its job if water is still flowing through your pipes.
Outside, check the catch basin at the curb in front of your house. Clear leaves and debris so water can actually drain. Don’t drive into standing water and don’t walk into it either. DWSD is direct on this: flooded streets and downed power lines are two things you stay away from.
If your basement takes water, don’t go in if the flood level has reached electrical outlets or the fuse box.
Residents can report flooded streets and basement backups through the Improve Detroit app or by calling 313-267-8000.
The Storm Window
Metro Detroit counties are also under a tornado watch until 4 a.m. Wednesday. A line of thunderstorms is expected to push through Southeast Michigan between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 4 a.m. Wednesday. That window carries a slight risk of winds topping 60 mph, hail at least an inch in diameter, possible tornadoes, and flash flooding.
Total rainfall through Thursday could land between 1 and 2 inches for most of the region, but 3 to 4 inches is possible in spots depending on where thunderstorms track and how long they hold together. The National Weather Service’s Detroit/Pontiac office said confidence is still low on whether the storm line holds its intensity or weakens before it arrives.
How the Regional System Is Holding Up
DWSD said the local and regional sewer systems are functioning as designed. Crews are on standby to respond to flooding. The department cleaned more than 600 miles of public sewer and more than 8,000 catch basins last year, numbers it’s pointing to now as evidence the system is in decent shape heading into the storm.
Navid Mehram, the Great Lakes Water Authority’s chief operating officer for wastewater operating services, said the forecast is within what the regional system was built to handle. “In anticipation of the approaching large storm event, GLWA is closely monitoring conditions, and the wastewater conveyance system has been fully reviewed to ensure operational readiness,” Mehram said in a statement.
Bridge Detroit’s coverage of the department’s advisory tracks the same concern city officials keep raising every spring: the regional infrastructure can absorb what it was designed for, but a saturated system plus an aggressive storm plus residents running washers and dishwashers all at once is how basements in Brightmoor and Jefferson-Chalmers end up underwater.
The Bigger Picture
Detroit’s sewer system, like those in most older Midwest cities, carries both sewage and stormwater in the same pipes. When the system gets overwhelmed, sewage backs up into basements. That’s not a rare edge case. It’s what happened repeatedly during major rain events in 2023 and 2024, hitting lower-income neighborhoods hardest because older housing stock is more likely to sit in low spots without modern drainage upgrades.
DWSD’s message this week is clear: individual behavior changes, especially cutting water use at home during the storm, actually move the needle when the system is stretched thin.
The Great Lakes Water Authority serves more than 3.7 million people across Southeast Michigan. When a storm stresses the regional conveyance system, the effects don’t stop at Detroit’s city limits.
Watch through Friday morning for updated flood advisories from the National Weather Service and any DWSD guidance on road closures or reported backup hotspots across the city.
