Veteran's Clinton Township home plagued by flooding: 'What am I supposed to do?'

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - Since the heavy rainfall on Friday, Tim Dekkers' backyard has looked like a lake. And after several more rounds of rain across Southeast Michigan on Tuesday, the flooding has only gotten worse. 

"What am I supposed to do? I’m between a rock and a hard spot right now," Dekkers said. 

The Clinton Township resident has been trying to drain the water out himself. He even dropped $400 on an industrial strength pump, he said, but it’s been a slow go.

The water has gotten inside Dekkers' house. He's tried to seal some cracks in his floors, but that has not worked either.

Dekkers is a veteran, living on a fixed income. So spending that kind of money just to stay dry is brutal.

"Now I’m going out and I'm spending money on pumps, big-dollar pumps, plugging it into my utilities – my bill's going to skyrocket right now," he told FOX 2. "This rain keeps coming closer and closer to the house. If I get another rain tonight, I’m flooded out."

Dekkers has lived in his family home in Clinton Township for 67 years now. He called the township and the county, requesting assistance.

"The culverts down here, replace them," he said. "That way we can get a flow, and then we can pump our stuff out, and then no problem."

The Clinton Township supervisor, Bob Cannon, said that they have sent personnel to assess the issue. However, the township is unable to address the flooding in Dekkers' backyard, and responsibility for the culverts falls under the jurisdiction of the Macomb County Department of Roads.

While the county's department of roads did not respond to FOX 2 for comment, they did send staff out to dig on Tuesday – but Dekkers believes more work needs to be done to help him and his neighbors.

"We pay taxes every year here, close to $3,000, and this is what I get?" Dekkers said.