The June 2021 Dearborn Flood — What Homeowners Must Know

What Happened on June 25 and 26, 2021

The storms began on the evening of Friday, June 25, 2021, and continued through Saturday, June 26. Rainfall totals varied across the Metro Detroit area, with some locations receiving close to 7 inches in a period of roughly five hours. The National Weather Service and FEMA later classified the event as approximately a 1,000-year rainfall occurrence — meaning a storm of this intensity at this location has a statistical probability of occurring once per 1,000 years. That classification reflects the severity of the event relative to historical storm data for this region, not a prediction that it will not happen again. If the next big storm floods your home, our Dearborn flooded basement cleanup team responds 24/7.

Dearborn's combined sewer system was designed to handle approximately 3.5 inches of rain per day. The June 2021 storm delivered nearly double that in less than half a day. The system filled completely and the pressure reversed. Raw sewage mixed with storm water backed up through basement floor drains throughout the city. Approximately two-thirds of Dearborn homes — roughly 20,000 properties — had water and sewage enter their basements.

The flooding was not limited to basements. The eastbound lanes of I-94 between Dearborn and downtown Detroit submerged under several feet of water. Motorists abandoned their vehicles. Governor Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference on the still-inundated highway. The visual of a major U.S. interstate submerged became the image that defined what Metro Detroit's aging drainage infrastructure looks like when overwhelmed by a modern storm event.

What the Flooding Looked Like on the Ground

On streets throughout Dearborn — on Hanover Street in Dearborn Heights, on blocks in East Dearborn along Warren Avenue, in the Fordson neighborhood — furniture, appliances, carpeting, and water-logged drywall piled up on curbs in the days following the storm. Residents pulled apart their basements, carrying out the possessions they could not save and the structural materials that had to be removed. Some families had not finished repairing damage from the 2014 or 2018 flooding when June 2021 arrived.

GFL and other waste haulers organized special debris pickup schedules for Dearborn and Dearborn Heights because the volume of damaged material exceeded what normal trash collection could manage. Volunteer organizations including Disaster Relief at Work (DRAW) set up distribution points for cleaning supplies. The Red Cross traveled neighborhood to neighborhood distributing cleanup kits. Leon's Family Dining on Michigan Avenue offered free meals to residents affected by the flooding. The community response was substantial, but so was the scale of what individual families were dealing with in their homes.

The Federal Response — What Dearborn Received

Representative Debbie Dingell worked with the Biden Administration to secure a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Wayne County under FEMA Disaster 4607. This made federal individual assistance available to qualifying Dearborn residents. The FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at 16301 Michigan Ave in Dearborn 48126 operated seven days a week, providing access to FEMA registration, SBA home and business loans, and other federal services. A second center operated at 4900 Pardee Ave in Dearborn Heights. Applications for individual assistance remained open until November 12, 2021.

At the city level, the economic development department received approximately $27 million from HUD's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. This funding supported a range of recovery and infrastructure projects, with the Colson Palmer Stormwater Line — designed to route stormwater from northeast Dearborn directly to the Rouge River — representing one of the largest single projects funded through this recovery allocation.

FEMA separately approved $2.37 million to reimburse Dearborn for debris removal costs incurred during the storm response. Captain Kevin Sweeney of the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division noted at the time that this federal funding would free up additional city resources that could be used to prevent future flood damage through mitigation efforts.

The July 2026 FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant

In July 2026, FEMA announced an $8.1 million Hazard Mitigation Grant for Dearborn — the second phase of an $8.4 million total grant through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The project installs approximately 6,200 feet of new storm sewers, grade protection, and flapgate structures in east Dearborn specifically between Chase Road and Greenfield Avenue.

Mayor Hammoud explained the flapgate concept publicly: rather than installing individual backflow prevention valves in each home, the flapgate serves as a backflow preventer for an entire neighborhood. The project is expected to protect approximately 3,000 homes in the targeted area. FEMA covered 90 percent of the project cost; the city of Dearborn covered the remaining 10 percent.

This grant addresses the same east Dearborn neighborhoods that FEMA and the city identified as most flood-distressed following June 2021. The Chase Road to Greenfield Avenue corridor in east Dearborn — covering the zip code 48124 area including blocks near Fordson High School and the Warren Avenue corridor — was the focus of both the CDBG-DR recovery spending and this 2026 hazard mitigation investment.

Why June 2021 Still Matters for Dearborn Homeowners Today

The June 2021 flood was not a one-time event that has been addressed and resolved. It was a forcing event that exposed what Dearborn's combined sewer infrastructure was actually capable of handling — and what happened when it was not enough. The infrastructure upgrades funded since 2021 address portions of the city. They do not address all of it.

Some Dearborn homeowners who flooded in June 2021 flooded again in subsequent storm events. Residents near Ecorse Creek in Dearborn Heights reported that FEMA claims from the 2024 flooding produced $250 in assistance against cleanup costs of $1,500 to $2,000. The coverage gap between what standard homeowners insurance excludes (sewer backup), what FEMA assistance covers (limited amounts for individual losses), and what the actual cleanup costs is a persistent financial problem for Dearborn and Dearborn Heights residents.

The most important thing June 2021 made clear: if your basement has flooded once in Dearborn, particularly if it flooded from floor drain backup during a heavy rain event, you are in a location that will flood again when conditions are right. The question is when and how severe, not whether.

What Changed After June 2021

Mayor Hammoud directed the city to commission a comprehensive two-year assessment of Dearborn's water infrastructure, including analysis of how climate change would affect storm event frequency and intensity. In September 2025, Hammoud and City Council President Mike Sareini held a public press conference to address ongoing flooding challenges and outline the city's infrastructure investment timeline. The assessment and ongoing project pipeline represent a more systematic response to flooding than the city had undertaken in prior decades.

The city also publicly recommended individual-level prevention measures including check valve installation on basement floor drains, sump pump installation for flood-prone properties, and flood insurance acquisition. These recommendations acknowledge a reality that many Dearborn homeowners already know: city-level infrastructure fixes take years, and individual homes need protection during the years it takes to complete them.

June 2021 Dearborn Flood — Frequently Asked Questions

If You Experienced Flooding in June 2021 and Have Flooded Since

Some Dearborn homeowners have flooded multiple times since June 2021. Each event creates new damage on top of repairs that may not have been fully completed. If your basement has flooded since 2021 — whether from a subsequent storm, a sump pump failure, or a pipe failure — the documentation process still matters. Call us for a current damage assessment. We document what we find for your insurance claim and advise on what options remain for coverage and assistance.