Showers, potential flooding expected in Michigan after deadly storms sweep Northeast - Detroit Free Press

Rain, possible flooding expected in Michigan after Northeast storms

Showers, potential flooding expected in Michigan after deadly storms sweep Northeast
Frank Witsil

Expect spotty — and then more intense — rain as thunderstorms Wednesday hit southeast Michigan.

"There's no flood warnings in effect ― yet," Bryan Tilley, a National Weather Service meteorologist in White Lake Township said early Wednesday morning, but residents in flood-prone areas should be on guard. "We're keeping an eye on trends."

In addition, the Great Lakes Water Authority, which handles water treatment, urged Michigan residents to be on "high alert and be prepared," especially those in in low lying areas and those who have previously been flooded. This would be a good time, it said, "to remove items of value" from your basement.

The potential for flooding in Michigan follows emergencies in New York and Vermont, where rains have washed out cities and towns, causing at least one death. Tilley said it's hard to pinpoint how much the flooding is caused by storms and how much is a result of extreme weather influenced by climate change, but both seem to be at fault.

Meanwhile, more than 40 speakers are set to meet in Detroit, including former vice president Al Gore and TV weatherman Al Roker, this week to discuss progress on combatting climate change, breakthrough solutions and to visualize what the future may hold.

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Last week, global temperatures reached their highest levels ever recorded, which means, Tilley said, that the air is holding more moisture, leading to more intense and sudden rainfall, which, as a result, becomes more difficult to predict and manage.

Scientists said the planet is the hottest it has been in roughly 125,000 years, the result of human-caused climate change, the strengthening El Niño and the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Tornado warning, no touchdown

In southeast Michigan, the rainfall potential is highest by midafternoon and the evening, with overall rainfall totals average between a half-inch to 1 inch. If there's more in certain areas of all at once, it could lead to what professional weather watchers call "localized flooding."

Tuesday afternoon, the weather service issued a tornado warning for Tuscola County is a county in the Thumb region, although there was no confirmed touchdown, the weather service said.

Area residents, especially those in the storm's path, were advised to seek shelter immediately.

Photos of the skies, Tilley said, looked ominous. In parts of the county, there were high and damaging winds, and in some places, near Vassar, for instance, quarter-inch size hail was reported. But fortunately, he said, it did not appear that a funnel cloud formed.

By early Wednesday, DTE had less than 10,000 customers without power and Consumers, about 2,000.

Deadly flooding in Northeast

In New York, flash flooding damaged areas in the Hudson Valley, about an hour north of New York City. There, a 43-year-old Fort Montgomery woman was reportedly killed, swept away by fast-moving water while trying to reach higher ground with her dog.

The weather also damaged the the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, flooding and washing out roadways.

As the slow-moving storm system moved, it also drenched Vermont. The weather service issued flash flood warnings and advisories. The heavy rain flooded cities, including the capital. The president has declared an emergency and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help coordinate disaster relief efforts.

"We have not seen rainfall like this since Irene," Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said this week, referring to Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. "It’s going on for days. That’s my concern. It’s not just the initial damage. It’s the wave, the second wave, and the third wave."

As for Michigan, Tilley said temperature highs Wednesday are expected to be in the 70s and 80s, with high humidity, with a "marginal risk" for sever weather south of M-59. Highs in the 80s, humid conditions and a chance of showers and thunderstorms are expected to persist Thursday and Friday.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com. Free Press Reporter Mika Travis and USA Today and The Associated Press contributed.