Detroit neighborhood frozen in after water main breaks, floods street on coldest day yet

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It's the coldest day Detroit has seen not just this year - but in many years. For one Detroit neighborhood, they're frozen in after a pipe burst, creating a wet, icy mess on their street.

The only good news for the people who live on Grandville on Detroit's west side is that school is out. Otherwise, the kids would slipping and sliding all over the place after a water main burst, flooding the street.

It turned Grandville into an ice rink - strong enough for someone to walk on, but too thin to drive on. That means people like Alvin Johnson found themselves stuck in the ice.

"I've been sitting here for 13 minutes," Johnson said. "I came up the block and saw them busting up the ice so I decided to turn around. When I turned around, I fell in the hole."

The City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department was working on the problem Wednesday. First they had to get rid of the ice, then get through the water to determine was causing the problems. McKinley Hicks was one of those employees working on the coldest day of the year.

"We're trying our best to figure out what the problem is. We're working as fast as we can to clear this problem up," Hicks said.

Renee Benson lives in the neighborhood and says she's grateful for anyone coming out to help.

"A lot of us have been snowed it but it's a blessing - we thank God that you guys are out here to help us because yesterday, literally 10 cars got stuck in front of our house and our neighbor's house," she said.

The problem started Tuesday when the main burst but neighbors, including Elliott Hite, say it's been a problem for a long time.

"Every time we get rain, every water falls, it backs up," 

The city says they've only had one call in their system and that was from last fall. Deputy Director Palencia Mobley says this is typical this time of year.

"When the temperatures drop and it gets excessively cold, you have that expansion and contraction of pipes and it breaks," Mobley said.

Crews are still working to dig though the problem and it's going to take up some time before the identify and fix the issue. 

In the meantime residents are keeping their spirits high and hoping for a quick solution as the temps continue to drop.