Access to DTW’s McNamara terminal restored amid flooding, officials say

Romulus ― Rains that caused flooding and chaos on roads and at Detroit Metro Airport on Thursday morning are set to return tonight, and there could be more of the same.

The National Weather Service warns of more rain with damaging winds with the chance for large hail and even a tornado.

"The big concern we have right now is for damaging wind," said Bryan Pilley, meteorologist with the weather service station in White Lake Township. "But there's also the possibility of a tornado and large hail as a secondary concern. Any storm that moves through can produce a quick inch or 2 of rain, and on top of what's already happened in the metro area last night, that would just worsen already flooded areas."

The torrential rains that began early Thursday made the main road to the McNamara Terminal at Metro Airport impassable. By 4 p.m., the Wayne County Airport Authority said access to the terminal had been fully restored after partial restoration at about 12:30 p.m. The northbound and southbound Dingell Drive tunnels also reopened, officials said.

"The sheer amount of rain in a short period of time is the primary driver for flooding at DTW," the authority said in a Thursday morning statement.

One Metro Airport traveler said Thursday morning was “an absolute mess.”

“Roads flooded all around the airport,” said Jeff Vos, a Metro Detroit business executive, on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “No one can get in or out.”

A video posted at 7 a.m. by one traveler showed a large amount of water glistening in the tunnel leading to the McNamara Terminal.

The closure caught John and Lisa Belcher, both 34 and from Rochester, unaware.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Lisa Belcher said. “We both travel frequently for work, so we’re used to having to be flexible when it comes to travel, but I’ve never seen it like this.”

The couple and their 15-month-old daughter, Olive, were scheduled to board a 9:10 a.m. flight to Denver but decided to stop in at the McDonald’s while they waited to see if the terminal would reopen Thursday.

Lisa Belcher said they arrived early to find the road to the terminal closed. They drove around the airport to see if there was another road to get there but didn’t find one. “There was nothing but water,” her husband said. “It’s just a big moat.”

She said they tried using Wayne Road but standing water there blocked their access. “We saw people getting off buses with their suitcases and walking,” Lisa Belcher said.

The couple parked their vehicle in a lot near the airport a couple doors from the McDonald’s. “They told us at the parking lot that the terminal was closed,” she said.

John Belcher said they were rebooked on a 2 p.m. flight.

“We were very lucky to have been able to book another flight today,” his wife said. ”I heard some people say they couldn’t get booked on another flight until Saturday and later in the weekend.”

He said they’re taking the delay in stride. “If we were the people in charge, I would have no idea how you would deal with this,” John Belcher said. “I don’t know how you could get the word out about this faster.

“And I really don’t know how you would get that tunnel pumped out.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation said Interstate 275 at Interstate 94 in Romulus closed early Thursday because of flooding.

Pumps along the state roadways affected by the flooding were working Wednesday night and into Thursday, but they couldn’t keep up with the rainfall and rising water levels in area waterways, said Jeff Cranson, a spokesman for MDOT. Whatever water was pumped out was flowing back in due to the rain and overflow from waterways.

“It’s always been a misnomer that more pumps or generators would completely solve the problem,” Cranson said. “This kind of deluge just can’t be absorbed by the tributaries and the bodies of water they would flow into. It’s just too much rain too fast.”

Cranson said the flooding is become a more frequent issue largely because significant rain events are becoming more common.

“These used to be hundred-year, thousand-year events and they’re happening more frequently,” Cranson said.

Diane Cross, a representative for the department, said just after 11 a.m., all pump houses were working after two pump houses lost power: one at I-75 near Clark Avenue in southwest Detroit, and the other at I-75 near 7 Mile.

"Neither area had flooding but we took generators to the area, just in case. (All) pump houses are working, including the 275/94 area," Cross said.

"We still have 2 to 3 feet of standing water on 275, under 94. We think it may be because of the construction project where we have covered many of the drains with a fabric to keep construction material from getting into the drains. We are currently checking that to try to get the water down. It is standard procedure to cover the drains which are called catch basins during a construction project, again to protect the construction materials from getting down into the drains."

Parking problems

Traffic on Middle Belt Road was heavy and slow early Thursday. Cars and trucks had to slog through large puddles covering the roadway in places.

Nadia Bryant snapped a photo of people walking down a ramp on Eureka Road to meet loved ones who were trying to pick them up but couldn't reach the terminal.

"People are parked, calling their airlines to make arrangements, alongside people waiting to pick up people from arrivals," she said. 

Holly Brown, who landed at McNamara at 9:30 a.m., didn't know anything about the flooding until she saw it on Facebook. She had walked about a half mile from the terminal to Eureka Road, where she was picked up. She said the exit tunnel from McNamara isn't flooded, so loads of people were walking instead of waiting for a shuttle to escape the terminal.

Brown, 33, said she waited at the terminal for about an hour before she and a group of about 50 others started walking toward Eureka. Cars are lined up and down Eureka picking travelers up, she said. She is visiting Michigan from Sarasota. 

Charlie Whitmore said he started walking toward Eureka, but turned back when police said they could open the road once it was clear of walkers. The Woodhaven resident said there has been a lack of communication in the airport; he landed in Detroit around 6 a.m. after a red-eye flight from Salt Lake City and said the airport never made an announcement about the floods and closures. Everything he heard has been secondhand or thirdhand information, he said.

"Nothing better than a red-eye flight followed by sitting at the airport for 6 hours, even better, on the wrong side of security where there aren't seats, restaurants, etc.," Whitmore said as his wife waited in traffic on Eureka to pick him up. "This has been something, almost 20 years traveling for work and I don't think I've ever been stuck like this, weird being in a situation where you really can't go anywhere."

Meanwhile, the McDonald’s was busy and packed with people, many affected by the terminal closure.

Tonya Lozano, 49, of Ann Arbor, was among them. “It’s really crazy,” she said.

Lozano said a friend was dropping her and her boyfriend off at the airport and had stopped at McDonald’s to use the restroom and grab a quick bite. She said she found the terminal was closed when she and her boyfriend arrived at the airport to catch a 9 a.m. flight to Sacramento. The couple was headed west to celebrate her birthday Friday.

“What a way to start my birthday weekend,” she said.

Lozano said she’s checked with her airline and found out her flight was delayed until 10 a.m. and then cancelled.

“Then that one was canceled and we were re-booked on another for 9:45 a.m.,” she said. “But then that one was canceled and they were trying to re-book another one. We actually ended up booking a flight out of Lansing.”

She said the whole ordeal has been frustrating and she particularly disliked not getting more advanced notice from the airport.

“We sat in traffic for almost an hour until a police officer who was directing traffic told us the terminal was closed,” she said. “The storms happened overnight so they clearly knew about them. I’m frustrated there wasn’t a better process for canceling flights or any communication from the airport or the airline.”

Flights canceled, delayed

Dozens of flights were delayed. All inbound flights, according to FlightAware.com, were being held at their origin until 11 a.m. Thursday, with departure delays averaging more than an hour "and increasing," the flight-tracking site added. Arrival delays at one point averaged more than 40 minutes and were expected to decrease, the site noted.

As of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, at least 110 flights scheduled to arrive at Detroit Metro Airport on Thursday had been canceled and another 45 departing flights were also canceled, according to the airport's online tracking system.

Incoming flights scheduled to arrive as late as 9:15 p.m. were canceled, while 68 other planes headed to Detroit Metro were listed as delayed in other airports across the country.

In a statement Thursday, Delta Airlines said it was processing cancelations "due to operational need and to ensure everyone’s safety. We expect further cancelations and delays... We know this is an inconvenience to our customers and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans.” 

Reached Thursday, a Delta Airlines official told The Detroit News customers are automatically rebooked when a cancelation occurs to the next best itinerary that gets them to their final destination with the least amount of delay possible. 

Delta, including flights operated by Delta Connection partners, had approximately 300 scheduled departures Thursday, said Morgan Durrant, an airline spokesperson. As of 10:30 a.m., the airline had 100 cancellations out of DTW, 50 departures and 50 arrivals, respectively, Durrant added. 

"Our best recommendation for customers is to download and use the Fly Delta App to get the latest flight information detail pushed to them – including any delay information – before they consider leaving for the airport," Durrant said. "At issue is the safety of our customers and people – many are not safely able to access the airport to run our Detroit hubs until roads are restored to working order."

The Federal Aviation Administration reported on social media that it was monitoring the situation at the airport.

"Remember to check with your airline before leaving home. Do not attempt to drive through flooded roadways," officials wrote.

Lauren Castillo, her husband Josean Castillo, and their co-worker Andrew Karam were all trying to get home to Phoenix on a 9 a.m. flight Thursday when the terminal’s closure left them stuck at the McDonald’s. The trio, which works in real estate, were in Detroit on business Wednesday.

They were standing outside of the fast food restaurant with their suitcases waiting for a Lyft ride. Lauren Castillo said they had taken a Lyft to the airport and discovered they wouldn’t be able to get in when they arrived. “The driver just kept circling the airport,” Karam said.

Fortunately, Lauren Castillo said they pre-booked the ride and weren’t charged more for the lift. She estimates they were in the car for 2.5 hours. “I’m sure he was praying we would get out of his car,” Karam joked.

Like the Belchers, the three said they are taking the delay in stride. “It is what it is,” Lauren Castillo said.

Josean Castillo added: “It’s not like we can say ‘oh we should have left a half hour earlier.’ It is what it is.”

Karam said: “You just have to roll with the punches.”

The traffic jam Thursday on Rogell Drive leading into Detroit Metro Airport because of the flooding at the McNamara Terminal meant it look a lot longer for Ashley Ryskamp, 37, of Northville, to get to her ride.

And Ryskamp didn’t even fly in to the terminal. She said she flew home from California and Las Vegas on American Airlines and landed at the Evans Terminal. “About 30 minutes before we landed, they told us the airport was flooded,” she said.

But her mom, Lynda Ryskamp, couldn’t get close to the terminal because roads were blocked off and congested. So the two talked over their cell phones and Lynda told her daughter to come find her where she was waiting on Rogell near the giant I-94 sign. “I told her I was parked here, so walk,” she laughed.

Ashley Ryskamp said she then walked with her suitcase from the terminal to where mom’s car was waiting.

“This is a first for me,” Lynda Ryskamp said. “But we’re good. The worst is over.”

Flooded streets, downed lines

Others in the region faced hassles throughout the day following the downpours.

Trent Frey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, said most areas in Metro Detroit received between 1-3 inches of rain by Thursday, whereas others in the western part of the region saw more than 7 inches Wednesday night.

"Out towards the airport (DTW), Ypsilanti, Canton and down towards Carleton, ( those areas received) about 3 to almost 7 and a half inches of rain during the storms last night," Frey said, adding the heavier rain patterns moved out of the region early Thursday with scattered showers trailing.

Frey said areas southeast of Belleville accrued the highest readings of rain, measuring 7.36 inches.

Storms have also resulted in power outages in the region. DTE Energy said more than 37,000 customers were in the dark by mid-afternoon. Consumers Energy reported 99% of its customers had electricity but more than 1,300 were without service.

In Detroit, there was isolated street flooding and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department crews have been cleaning catch basins, said spokesman Bryan Peckinpaugh.

“With two rain storms in the past 24 hours, it can cause trash and other debris to get into the street catch basins causing temporary flooding,” Peckinpaugh said in an email.

The Great Lakes Water Authority said it was prepared for deluges.

"The regional system worked as intended throughout last night’s rain activity. Portions of the system that experienced heavy storms from the August 23 event are partially full and we are actively dewatering in preparation of the forecasted weather today," said Navid Mehram, chief operating officer, wastewater operating services.

Heat returns

Meanwhile, scattered thunderstorms are possible Thursday evening into the night, the weather service said. As a result, it issued a hazardous weather outlook for a second day. Hail up to 1.5 inches in size, wind gusts of about 70 mph and heavy rainfall are expected. The agency predicts 1-2 inches of rain could fall hourly.

Meteorologists with the service also said an isolated tornado can't be ruled out and the likeliest time for the storm to reach the area is between 3-9 p.m.

Adding to the area's weather woes, the weather service has issued a flood warning Thursday for Livingston, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. The warning is in effect until 3:45 p.m. and covers communities such as Ann Arbor, Southfield, Monroe, Ypsilanti, Howell, Milford, Milan, Dundee, Fowlerville, Pinckney and Carleton.

Meteorologists said up to another inch of rain is possible in places covered by the warning.

There are other issues, as well.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Livingston, Macomb and Oakland counties from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. It predicts heat indices of up to 102 degrees in those areas due to high temperatures and humidity.

Temperatures in Detroit are expected to reach 90 degrees and a low of 70, according to the agency.

Some Metro Detroit communities said they will open cooling centers to help people beat the heat.

For example, the city of Detroit is offering its public libraries and recreation centers as cooling centers during their normal business hours.

In the suburbs, Farmington Hills will open its Costick Center as a cooling station for residents and non-residents from 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The center is at 28600 W. 11 Mile between Middlebelt and Inkster roads.

The city of Westland is also opening some of its buildings, including city hall, the police station, fire stations and recreation centers to provide residents respite from the heat.

Staff writer Beth LeBlanc contributed to this report