Metro Detroit under flood watch until Friday morning

Image 1 of 3

This round of spring showers was more like a dreadful downpour as heavy rainfall left metro Detroit under a flood watch

FOX 2: "So just how deep is this water?"

"I'd say a foot, in some places it could get to a foot and half," said Jay Williams, Woodhaven resident.

In Woodhaven's Sun Homes, some streets were barely passable on Thursday night.

During one of the rain storms, water in the street was all the way to the front bumper of cars trying to forge through it.

People who live in the Sun Homes community say their streets flood whenever it rains. The storm forced Aaron Flynn and Jamie Camarda to move their son's first birthday from their home to the clubhouse.

"I wasn't going to have my family drive through it so it's kind of a last-minute change of plans when we heard about all the rain," Flynn said.

From Downriver to Detroit.

"People have driven across lawns so they don't have to drive in the street," said one resident.

The torrential rainfall turned thoroughfares and neighborhood streets alike into streams.

"When it rains for a long period of time it floods just like this every time," said Marva Swanigan.

And then there are basements to consider.

FOX 2: "Is our sewer system equipped to handle this volume?"

"It's equipped to handle the volume," said Gary Brown director of Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department.

"We've got our waste water treatment plant fully staffed," Brown said. "We've got all of our pumping stations are fully staffed. The Great Lakes Water Authority will be monitoring the control center. We'll be taking every precaution to make sure there's no flooding in the city of Detroit."

If you have a storm drain on your street use a rake to clear it, which can alleviate 90 percent of the blockage.

WEB EXTRA: The Detroit Water and Sewer number is (313) 267-8000 for a vacuum truck to clean out storm drains.