St. Clair Shores one of hardest hit flooded areas after Monday's rain

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WJBK) - A mess in metro Detroit, as overnight rains shut down freeways and flood streets all over town.

And one of the hardest hit areas was St. Clair Shores and residents there say the flooding is becoming a serious problem almost every time it rains.

FOX 2 Weather Authority Jessica Starr said that St. Clair Shores got about 1.6, or so, inches of rain - but it did a lot of damage. 

"Early this morning I got up for work, I went to throw my clothes in the washer and I took one step down here in a big puddle," said resident Bobby Gream.

It was a big puddle.

"I turned the lights on and wall to wall, there was four inches of water," Gream said.

And Bobby's not the only one. St. Clair Shores officials said that they received numerous calls about flooded streets and flooded basements.  But why do we have floods? 

"The ground has been so dry and the water can't saturate down into the ground," Starr said. "The water we saw - about an inch and a half, just kind of sits on top of the ground because it is so dry and crunchy."

The dry ground effect might account for the water but what about getting rid of it?

"In St. Clair Shores, the sewage and the water, the rainwater combine into one," Gream said. "So if they have an overload they can't dump the rainwater into the lake most other cities do."

FOX 2: "People say why not have two different drain systems?"

"That would be great," said Bryan Babcock, St. Clair Shores Department of Public Works. "We would have to go out to all 26,000 homes though and put a sump pit in and separate the storm water from our sewage."

And FOX 2 is told that would take millions of dollars.  But one resident has an answer. 

"I plugged up the drains," said "Kim Nicosia. "It is an expansion plug I bought from Home Depot. "(It cost) about $5."   

But let's get back to Bobby.

"This happened about a month and a half ago," said Gream, adding that he lost music equipment and other items in flood.

FOX 2: "Bottom line, it is going to rain in St. Clair Shores, it's going to flood?"

"If it is going to rain that much," said Babcock.