The Detroit Green Infrastructure Program

Hufnagel, Carol L.; Schechter, Dan; Mobley, Palencia; Barrott, Wendy; Christian, Dan

doi:10.2175/193864715819555256

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…This office is currently working on community engagement and interagency collaborations to inform the City’s first sustainability plan and priority strategies, with plans to update a heat and flood vulnerability assessment conducted for the City in 2012 [47]. Also, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is currently implementing extensive green infrastructure practices to reduce sewage overflow at 17 specific outfalls in the Upper Rouge Tributary watershed in Northwest Detroit [63] as part of an agreement with the EPA. Under this plan, bioretention sites can capture excess stormwater using natural systems and remove burden from the overall combined sewage system, which could result in fewer household floods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We’re Just Sitting Ducks”: Recurrent Household Flooding as An Underreported Environmental Health Threat in Detroit’s Changing Climate

Sampson¹,

Price²,

Kassem³

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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Recurrent inland urban flooding is an understudied phenomenon that warrants greater attention, particularly in post-industrial cities where aging infrastructure, disinvestment, and climate change threaten public health. We conducted semi-structured interviews in 2017–2018 with 18 Detroit residents experiencing recurrent household flooding. We used standard qualitative coding analysis to generate 30 theoretically- and in vivo- derived themes related to flood experience, socioeconomic and health factors, and household, community, and policy interventions for reducing environmental exposures before, during, and after flood events. Snowball sampling yielded interviewees across both high- and low-risk areas for flood events, indicating vulnerability may be widespread and undocumented in formal ways. Residents described exposure to diverse risk factors for chronic and infectious diseases, particularly for seniors and young children, and emphasized stressors associated with repeated economic loss and uncertainty. Opinions varied on the adequacy, responsibility, and equity of local and federal relief funding and programs. We expand knowledge of flood-related vulnerability, offer innovative suggestions for risk communication based on residents’ experiences, and recommend additional research for documenting patterns of recurrent flooding and response, even for precipitation events that are not characterized as extreme or disaster-level in the media or by agencies. These findings should guide local public health, emergency preparedness, sustainability, water and sewage, and community leaders in post-industrial cities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%