Detroit Streets Lined With Frozen Cars After Major Water Main Break
In the early hours of the morning on February 17, a catastrophic water main break in Southwest Detroit sent a flood of icy water into the streets, causing panic and extensive property damage. According to AP, this break of a 1930s-built pipe left 72 homes without electricity, 190 with flooded basements, and 174 without heat. 133 households stayed in hotels.
The torrents of water, compared to a “white water rafting river” by resident Claudia Ortiz, required firefighters to use rubber rafts to haul residents to safety. “Everybody was so scared,” Ortiz told AP.
But it wasn’t just the five feet of water in the streets that caused issues – that water then froze, leaving cars frozen in place and some no longer working. On Wednesday, crews could be seen chipping away at the ice that was holding the cars in place.
As of Wednesday, the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) said it anticipated “an approximately 12-foot section of pipe will need to be removed.” GLWA estimated it could take up to two weeks to return the main to service.
Efforts are underway to fix the break, but the incident underscores the aging infrastructure in the U.S. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a press conference, “This was a failure of a Detroit-built, GLWA-maintained, water main. That’s the truth, and we’re going to fix it.”
The vulnerabilities of aging infrastructure, like this nearly century-old pipe, are more apparent than ever. Some water systems in the U.S. date as far back as the 19th century, and the American Society of Civil Engineers confirmed that the U.S. experiences nearly 140,000 breaks each year. Combined with extreme weather conditions, incidents like this one may become more common – but still a striking sight to behold.