Firefighters respond to an emergency at a house on Oakman Blvd.

DEARBORN — On Tuesday night, a severe thunderstorm left more than 2,000 homes without electricity and tree limbs strewn on homes, sidewalks and streets. 

That eyesore of a scene only serves to add more gloom to the thousands of residents who are still feeling the aftermath of the record-breaking Aug. 11 flood that hit the city, leaving thousands of homes damaged with debris and garbage piled up on front lawns.  

“These neighborhoods are beginning to resemble some of those in Detroit,” a local resident told The Arab American News as she watched Department of Public Works (DPW) employees attempt to remove a tree that had fallen on top of a home on Coleman Street on Wednesday afternoon. “I have lived in this city for over 30 years and I have never seen it this bad. Mother nature does not want to give us a break, it seems.”

Moe Saab, who resides on Coleman Street with his wife and two kids, told The Arab American News that the family was inside the house Tuesday evening when a tree collapsed on their roof.

“My friend was outside and I thought he was joking when he said the tree was falling,” Saab said. “I ran out and I seen it starting to come out from the ground. It was crazy. It just opened up and the whole thing came falling down.” 

Saab said he has relocated his family to a local hotel because he worries that the weight of the tree may have caused his roof to become unstable. After a branch of the tree jabbed through parts of the roof, water began leaking through until the storm subsided.

Saab added that when his family first moved into the home two years ago, he had contacted the city three times regarding the tree’s instability. City inspectors determined that it was still in healthy shape and didn’t need to be taken down. 

“What shocks me was that the storm wasn’t even that major,” Saab said. “The winds weren’t that bad for the tree to collapse like that. It had started leaning from before where it was already on an angle coming towards the house. But the city came down and inspected it and said it was still a healthy tree.” 

This is the second hit Saab’s home had taken in the last several weeks. His basement suffered minor flooding damages from the flood. 

City officials continue to scramble with the after-effects of that day and the continued severe weather that has shattered through much of Wayne County. Following the severe rain and wind storm that occurred on Tuesday, the DPW reported that 20 trees fell, as well as an additional 20 other cases of large limbs falling on homes, streets and sidewalks. The DPW crew was able to respond to almost all those cases within a 24-hour period. 

This week the city announced that it has contracted with Rizzo Environmental Services out of Sterling Heights to assist with the removal of the extensive amount of blight that continues to linger around neighborhood streets. 

Residents are urged to avoid parking in the streets and in front of homes with massive pile ups, in order for the company’s red and white trucks to drive through and carry out removal efforts. According to the Dearborn Police Department, an additional 70 trucks, on top of the city’s DPW trucks, will be out collecting garbage until Saturday, August 30.

The city alerted residents about the additional trucks by putting out disclaimers in neighborhoods and sending out a message on the NIXLE text message alert system, which has more than 7,000 subscribers. 

The Residential Services Department has also contracted services with Republic Services, which has been picking up bulk trash using yard waste trucks, 10 to 12 hours a day since August 11, along with DPW employees.

“More than 20 extra crews from the city and the trash contractor are working 10-12 hour days to pick up unprecedented amounts of water and sewage soaked materials at the curbside from as many as 10,000 Dearborn homes,” said Mary Laundroche, director of the Department of Public Information. “More than $1 million in extra dollars has already been spent by the city on this clean up effort. More is expected.”

However, some local resident have been complaining that their trash has been piled up on their curbside for two weeks now and the city had yet to pick them up.

On Wednesday the Arab American Civil Rights League  (ACRL) sent a letter to Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly on behalf of residents who are concerned about the delay of trash pickup. The group had received several complaints from residents regarding the issue. 

“Mr. Mayor, I ask that you please review the cleanup process in the most expeditious fashion, as many have grown uneasy over this dilemma,” ACRL Chairman Nabih Ayad said.

Scavenging continues, bomb scare

Despite the city’s waste collecting efforts, curbside scavenging continues to be a growing concern as there have been reports of motorists coming into the neighborhoods and attempting to pick up unwanted items. A staffer at The Arab American News said he witnessed a pickup truck with more than two feet of items stocked on top of each other coming out of a Dearborn neighborhood on Monday evening. Items included furniture, desks, electronics and other household items.

Last week, the city enforced an emergency ordinance that made it a misdemeanor for people to remove items set at the curbside for trash pick up. The offense could result in a hefty $500 fine and up to 93 days in jail. The ordinance is effective for up to 60 days and will require a city council vote if an extension is warranted. 

“Our guys are out there watching for that,” Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said. “We know people have been hauling stuff away, but it’s also a double edged sword because some citizens are taking their own stuff to the dumpsters because they don’t want to wait for the garbage trucks.” 

Over the weekend a bomb scare occurred at Hemlock Park as a result of the persisting debris. On Saturday evening, social media blew up with testimonials from residents who said they witnessed a bomb squad handling a “suspicious package” after the park was temporarily closed off. 

Haddad said the scare started when a resident had contacted the police department after stumbling upon a suspicious suitcase at the park. The department took precautionary measures and sent out a bomb task force to handle the incident. The end result was simply a suitcase that was thrown out by a local resident as a result of flood damages.

“There has been hundreds and hundreds of suitcases thrown out by residents,” Haddad said. “One of the suitcases made its way over to Hemlock Park. We didn’t have high fear it was a bomb, but we proceeded along those lines.”

The Dearborn Fire Department, which last year merged with Melvindale, has also been busy dealing with the aftermath of the floods. Deputy Fire Chief Joey Thorington said there has been a small uptick in reported fires following the floods.

“There have been a lot of wires in and outside homes that may have caused damages, but it’s hard to tell because they are still under investigation,” Thorington said.

The Fire Department reported two house fires occurring within the last week on Oakman Blvd. and a garage fire that occurred on Tuesday during the rain storm. All three incidents are still under investigation.