A 54-inch water transmission line burst in the early hours of Monday, turning a Southwest Detroit neighborhood into a crisis zone. Families woke up to a disaster unfolding around them—freezing floodwaters rising fast, swallowing their basements, and forcing emergency responders to navigate through the icy currents in inflatable boats. By daylight, 398 homes sat in an impact zone of destruction. More than 60 families were evacuated, and 83 are now relying on city-funded hotel stays, their homes either uninhabitable or too hazardous to return to.
