Hundreds of Detroit Families Forced Out of Homes, Cars Destroyed After Water Main Break Creates Icy Nightmare

Mar. 15, 2025

A major water main break in Southwest Detroit impacted around 400 properties in the area on Monday, Feb. 17.

Around five feet of water flooded the streets, and families were rescued via boats from the area, including 63 adults and 31 children, per NBC News. Due to the snow and icy conditions, it took crews several hours to find the valves, Gary Brown, Director of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), said.

“The exact cause isn’t known but it’s most likely a combination of aging infrastructure and freezing temperatures,” City spokesperson John Roach said in a statement on Monday, per NBC News. The temperature reached a low of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, per theBBC.

Nearly 300 Detroit residents were evacuated to hotel rooms after their homes were flooded with icy water and no heat was accessible amid subfreezing temperatures, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 18, per NBC News.

“We have shifted from the rescue phase to the service phase and we are now going house to house,” Duggan said on Tuesday.

In a Wednesday press conference, Brown said that 50 homes were sent an advisory to boil their water because the city is still testing the water for potential bacteria, perClickOnDetroit.

A nearly 12-foot section of pipe is expected to be replaced.

“We are dedicating a team of focus on recovery efforts over the next six weeks to get people back in their homes and address health and safety issues,” Brown said on Wednesday, perThe Detroit News.

“The main thing is to get the homes back so that people can live in them again,” he continued. “Let’s get the furnaces, the hot water tanks sanitized and clean so people can get back into them. That’s the phase that we’re in now.”

Several cars were frozen in place and are now no longer working due to the flooding, resident Michael Muzzey toldWXYZ.

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source: people.com