Heavy rainfall which resulted in flooding caused some problems for Detroit-area travelers Friday as several roads in the area were closed due to standing water. Both the south and northbound lanes of I-75 and I-696 were shut down for several hours Friday due to flooding. There was a power outage in the area that resulted in a water pump not working and as a result, the major flooding occurred.
Several vehicles were stranded on I-75 north of Detroit where up to four feet of water was on the expressway. A flash flood warning was put into affect for that area due to the heavy rains. The Detroit metropolitan area got over six inches of rain Thursday night which resulted in many road closures and home floods.
On interstate 75, the driver of a tractor trailer loaded with potatoes had to crawl out of his rig and stand on top of the cab to wait for someone to rescue him as he was stuck in flood water. The driver was rescued by people in a small boat. The Flint fire department also had a boat out Friday as they needed to use it to rescue people from apartments and townhouses after floodwater invaded residents’ homes and basements. There was also a forced evacuation at an apartment complex in Grand Blanc Township following the torrential rainstorm Thursday and early Friday. Some cars in Grand Blanc were nearly completely submerged in water and many homes there had basement and first floor flooding.
The thunderstorm which moved in southern Michigan Thursday evening resulted in thousands of people losing power due to lightening strikes and toppled trees. The National Weather Service had severe thunderstorm watches in effect for several counties in southern lower Michigan Thursday night as well as warnings for some counties early Friday morning. Temperatures in the area soared to the mid-80s Thursday as the severe weather started moving into northern and mid-Michigan from the west Friday morning. The severe weather stretched as far south as Bay and Midland counties, kicking up winds in excess of 60 miles per hour and dropping one-inch hail. Friday’s high in the Detroit area was a hot and sticky 84 degrees which nearly broke a record for this early in May.
The temperatures in lower Michigan will drop a bit on Saturday and be on average, 69 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. The National Weather Service says that there will be a 20% chance of rain over the weekend as temperatures slowly drop back to normal range for early May which will average around 65 degrees.