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Debbie Dingell discusses the impact of recent flooding

Posted at 8:25 AM, Jul 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-02 08:25:26-04

(WXYZ) — In tonight's 7 UpFront we're taking a closer look at the impact of the flooding from the recent heavy rains.

Joining us for the discussion is US Representative Debbie Dingell.

You can see the full interview in the video player above.

"I've spent a lot of time on this, obviously, since the rain started," Dingell says. "I was texting the governor Saturday morning at 4 a.m. sending her pictures of what was going on. Dearborn was particularly hard hit, 94 has been closed for that portion virtually all week. But parts of Washtenaw [County], Ypsilanti was very seriously hurt. Many homes in Ann Arbor, Ypsi Township. So the storm's impact was felt across the district. People are angry, particularly in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, which was also hurt pretty badly. We keep having these storms. Everybody says they're once-in-a-lifetime storms, but we're on our 5th or 6th one in the last 7 or 8 years. People are tired of having their basement flooded. The people that are in tears, they're losing things that meant a lot to them, they're tearing out walls again, and throwing out carpeting and furniture. You just had to drive down the streets and see the trash in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Ypsilanti. It's hard and it really takes its toll on everybody and electricity was out for a number of days too. We need to understand what happened, why it happened, and what do we do to try and minimize some of the damage for the future."