Detroit residents deal with destruction in wake of flood: "It's just a nightmare"
Residents on the southwest side of Detroit are left with major destruction to clean up after hundreds of homes were flooded by Monday's water main break.
The damage inside many of these houses is devastating, especially for resident Emilio Salazar.
Tuesday was the first time Salazar stepped foot in his mother's house off Lisbon Street after the neighborhood he'd grown up in flooded.
"It's just a mess. Nobody was expecting this to happen and it's just a nightmare, kind of," Salazar said.
Water was still puddled in the basement with memories and possessions drenched and destroyed.
"The water, it ended up coming all the way to the door here. You know, you look outside and see all the water flowing, I mean the streets looked like rivers. You know, it was just really unexpected," said Salazar.
Fans and heaters were on blast in the basement trying to evaporate what's left of the flood.
Salazar and his family are currently staying in a hotel and taking advantage of help from the city.
"We're still trying to figure it out. We're taking it day by day. At least we have a warm place to stay at the moment, but still gotta figure out what's going to happen with all the damage," Salazar stated.
One resident tells CBS News Detroit that her family was desperate and built a mound of snow in their backyard on Monday to slow the spread of the water. Unfortunately, the damage was already done.
"Everything we had down here, our furnace, our hot water tank, everything is destroyed. I have five kids in my home, and we have no heat consistently. No hot water. It's a disaster," the resident said.
This resident, who chose not to go on camera, says that despite the destruction at her home off Lexington Street, her family decided to stay put. She tells CBS News Detroit that city officials did stop by. She has called the number the city provided but has not gotten any further help yet.
"They didn't evacuate us to a hotel right away because our damages weren't all the way to our living room. We don't want to just run to a hotel. That's not going to fix the problem. We gotta try to fix the problem in our house. We can't just run away from it because we can't just wait on them. What if it doesn't come from them," the resident said.
In the meantime, she says it's just a waiting game on when these repairs will happen.
"We still have no hot water; our furnace is going in and out, so we don't have consistent heating. Basically, it's up in the air what's going to happen right now," she said.
The city says it plans to provide food, housing, and transportation for any residents impacted by this flood. It also plans to cover repairs and urges residents to call 313-774-5261 if they need help.
