Storms of September 2 to 3, 2026: your clock is already running
If you found water that night, the 45-day written-notice window closes October 17, counted from the day you found it. Still raining? Our live storm watch has the active alerts and the 48-hour outlook.
The first 10 minutes: safety before anything else
Do not enter standing water in the basement if the power is on. Water and electricity together can kill, and it is the single most dangerous mistake people make in a flooded basement. If you can safely reach your main breaker from a dry stairway, cut power to the basement circuits. If you cannot reach it without stepping into water, stay out and call DTE Energy or an electrician instead of guessing.
If you smell gas anywhere in the house, leave immediately and call from outside.
Once power is confirmed off, or was never on down there, wear boots and gloves before you go back in. Storm and sewer water carries bacteria and contaminants you do not want on bare skin.
Before you touch anything, document it
This is the step everyone skips in the panic, and the one that costs the most later. Before you move a single box or run a wet vac, take wide shots and close-up photos and video of the water line on the walls, the standing water, and every affected item: furniture, flooring, drywall, anything stored down there.
Write down the exact date and time you discovered the water. That timestamp matters more than it looks like it should. It starts a legal clock, explained below, that keeps running whether you write it down or not.
The call order
1. Immediate danger
Call 911 for anything life-threatening: an electrical hazard you cannot isolate, a gas smell, or a medical issue. This comes before every other call on this list, always.
2. Report the backup to the right agency
If you are in Detroit and suspect a municipal sewer backup, call DWSD at (313) 267-8000 the same day, or use the Improve Detroit app, and ask for a Service Request number. You need that number before you can file a damage claim later, so get it now rather than after cleanup (DWSD Damage Claims & Sewage Backups). Macomb County residents can reach Public Works' 24-hour hotline at (877) 679-4337. Oakland County residents file through the county Water Resources Commissioner. If your community's system runs through the regional authority, contact information is at the Great Lakes Water Authority.
Reporting also shows the agency whether it is one pipe or the whole street that night. Full step-by-step: our DWSD/GLWA claim guide.
3. A plumber, only if the source is inside your home
If the water is coming from a burst pipe, a failed water heater, or a backup tied to your own line rather than the municipal system, shut off the water supply if you can and call a plumber to stop the source. If the water is a municipal sewer backup or storm water coming in from outside, there may be no valve to close, and your priority shifts entirely to documentation and getting water out.
4. Your insurance company
Call to open a claim once the immediate danger is handled and you have your documentation. Ask directly whether you carry a water or sewer backup endorsement, since a standard policy will not cover this without one. Our guide on what insurance actually covers for sewer backup in Michigan lays out exactly what to ask before that call.
5. A restoration company
If the water is more than you can extract and dry yourself within a day, a restoration company can pump, extract, and set up commercial drying equipment. Get more than one quote if you have time, and confirm they are licensed and insured before they start, the same way you would for a waterproofing contractor.
Get the water out and dry fast
Once power is confirmed safe, remove standing water with a pump or wet vac, then get air moving with fans and a dehumidifier, and open the windows only if it is dry outside. Carpet, padding, and drywall that stay wet past about two days usually have to come out rather than be dried in place. Pull soaked drywall and insulation back to dry material, because mold grows behind walls long after the surface looks dry.
Two clocks you cannot see: 45 days to claim, 48 hours before mold
Two deadlines are running whether you notice them or not. If a municipal sewer caused the backup, Michigan law (MCL 691.1419) gives you 45 days from the date you discovered the damage to send written notice to the responsible agency, DWSD, GLWA, or your county, or you generally lose the right to claim. Filing on time does not mean getting paid, but missing the date means not being considered at all. Our DWSD and GLWA claim guide walks through exactly what that notice needs to say.
Separately, the EPA advises drying water-damaged areas and materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth (EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home). Porous materials like carpet, carpet padding, and wet drywall that stay damp past that window usually need to be removed rather than dried in place.
Free help available today
Michigan 211 provides free, 24/7 navigation to flood cleanup help, shelter, and utility assistance. Dial 211 or text your ZIP code to 898211. If you are a Detroit homeowner, the city's drainage-charge Green Credit is automatic and needs no application. For help paying to prevent the next backup rather than this one, see our assistance programs guide for what is actually open this month, including a program that pays up to $40,000 toward a permanent fix.
Why it will happen again: the three ways water gets into a Michigan basement
A basement that flooded once is very likely to flood again in a comparable storm unless the underlying cause gets fixed. Detroit has logged more than 13,900 water-in-basement reports through Improve Detroit since 2023, and the same blocks show up storm after storm. The June 2021 weekend behind the federal disaster declaration (FEMA, Michigan Severe Storms and Flooding (DR-4607-MI)) was extreme, but most of the basements it filled had filled before. The National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac, June 2021 flooding summary shows how fast it happened.
Water reaches a basement floor three ways, and prevention only works if you know which one you have. A municipal sewer backup: the shared pipe under the street fills past capacity and pushes up through the floor drain, the combined-sewer story across Detroit and the older inner suburbs, and no gutter work stops it. Groundwater: clay soil holds water against the foundation, the footing drain and sump cannot keep up, and it comes in at the floor-wall joint. Surface water: roof and yard runoff heads toward the house and finds the window wells. Sewer water smells like sewage and rises from the drain. Groundwater is clear and cold at the edges. Surface water comes in high and dirty.
Basement flood prevention in Michigan: what actually works, cheapest first
For surface water, the fixes are boring. Extend downspouts away from the foundation, clean the gutters before the leaves drop, and regrade the soil so it slopes away from the house. FEMA, Protect Your Property From Flooding lists these first because they cost a weekend, not a contractor. Oakland County homeowners can get some of that yard work subsidized through the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner, RainSmart rebates for rain barrels and rain gardens that keep roof water out of the ground next to the foundation.
For groundwater, the answer is a working sump system, and the word that matters is working. If the power went out on September 2 and your pump stopped with it, that is the failure to fix first: a battery or water-powered backup keeps it running when DTE cannot. The keep-a-basement-dry guide covers the setup.
For a municipal backup, the only device that helps is a backwater valve on your sewer lateral, usually paired with a sump so the footing drain has somewhere to go once the valve closes. Detroit installed both at no cost in 11 flood-prone neighborhoods through DWSD, Basement Backup and Flood Protection, though applications are closed as of July 2026 pending new funding. The City of Detroit, Private Sewer Repair Program is the one still open, and the source of the $40,000 figure above. Outside Detroit, the valve is on you. Our backwater valve guide covers the second half too: a closed valve keeps the street's sewage out, and it also means your own drains have nowhere to go until it opens.
Before the next storm: the check that takes less time than the cleanup
When a flood watch is issued, do four things while it is still dry. Pour a bucket into the sump pit and watch the pump run. Clear leaves off the storm grate at the curb, since a blocked grate turns the street into a pond that drains toward the lowest basement on the block. Move anything you would hate to lose off the floor. If you have a backwater valve, confirm the flap moves freely. None of this is a guarantee. Suburb risk on this site is modeled from housing data, not measured, and a clean grate does not stop a combined sewer from surcharging. It does remove the failures you can control before the ones you cannot arrive.
What happens after the water is out?
Once things are stable, settle which of the three causes you had, since each has a different fix and a different cost. Our 2026 waterproofing cost guide breaks down what each one runs in metro Detroit, and our storm-prep guide is the longer version of the checklist above, for a dry afternoon instead of a wet night.
Sources reviewed
Primary sources checked September 2026:
- FEMA, Michigan Severe Storms and Flooding (DR-4607-MI), fema.gov.
- National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac, June 2021 flooding summary, weather.gov.
- EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home, epa.gov.
- FEMA, Protect Your Property From Flooding, fema.gov.
- DWSD Damage Claims & Sewage Backups, detroitmi.gov.
- DWSD, Basement Backup and Flood Protection, detroitmi.gov.
- City of Detroit, Private Sewer Repair Program, detroitmi.gov.
- Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner, RainSmart rebates, oakgov.com.
- Great Lakes Water Authority, glwater.org.
- Michigan 211, mi211.org.