Hurricane Beryl's incoming heavy rainfall has flood-prone spots of metro Detroit nervous

(FOX 2) - With Hurricane Beryl making landfall earlier this week, neighbors in Michigan are worried about what it may bring with forecasts pointing toward a wet next couple of days.

Much of Southeast Michigan was placed under a flood watch by the National Weather Service, which is predicting multiple inches of rain to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday. That's bad news for the homes prone to backing up and streets with poor drainage.

That includes on Stotter Street in Detroit, which saw the last drops of neighborhood flooding end last month following a dose of heavy rain.

According to Michele Jackson who lives just two blocks over, she had three inches of water in her basement by the time the rain had stopped falling. Now, Déjà vu is settling in.

"But it’s been raining a lot and I always go down there and check it. Make sure it ain’t over-flowed," she said. 

For Jackson, it took a week for her basement to dry up. 

A similar story may be told in the coming days with severe rain on the way. 

Typical summer storms drop a quarter inch to half an inch of rain. But this storm could bring upwards of four inches of rain in some spots of metro Detroit.

"This is comparable to those big storms and years past where we had that big flooding in Dearborn. We had big flooding in the Grosse Pointes. We had big flooding downtown Detroit," Derek Kevra, FOX 2's meteorologist said. 

It can be tough to visualize what an inch of rain looks like. Kevra said an inch of rain equals ten inches of snow. 

That could spell trouble for the future - which is why homeowners should take steps beforehand to help reduce potential flooding. That means clearing neighborhood storm drains and making sure downspouts are connected and ready to carry water away from the home.

"Another thing is a homeowner keep an eye on those gutters. Sometimes you can get sticks and leaves have fallen and clog up the gutters and then you get water pouring over the gutters. A lot of times that’s the water that gets into our basement," Kevra said.

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) is also asking homeowners to remain vigilant – constantly check your basements, and remove any valuables from there. Also, homeowners are asked to avoid using their washing machines and dishwashers until after the storm.  

"I came from a long way, from Atlanta, Georgia to help my family out, and we got extra hands on deck. We probably are going to put some sand bags down and just be prepared, you know, on our behalf," said Abdul, who has relatives in Dearborn Heights.

Residents in Taylor are also on edge due to possible flooding.

"I’m happy that at least we have a warning this time, and we will be prepping to move stuff out of our basement. We’re already started actually," said Jason Sexton, who has lived in the Telegraph and Van Born area for 15 years.

Saxton's home is very close to a creek. He knows the drill, having been through flooding before.

"I’ve had it come up to the top of our stairs over here, from the outside, so it breached basement windows and started coming in," Saxton said. "And then, of course, you always have somebody that’s coming down here with a big four-wheeler, super-sized tires, and creates wake and makes it even worse."

GWLA says their system is operating as designed, but the concern is rainfall that could exceed the system's capabilities.