How much will Detroit pay out for southwest water main flood?

• Recovery efforts continued in southwest Detroit weeks after a water main break flooded about 200 homes.
• Most claims with the city are expected to be settled within 45 days.

On the day a water main break sent icy torrents into hundreds of southwest Detroit homes, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan made a vow: The city’s water department and its partner, the Great Lakes Water Authority, would pay for any damage not covered by insurance.

Now, nearly a month later, the cost of that promise is coming into focus.

In a midday news conference Wednesday, officials, including Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Director Gary Brown, were asked about the price tag. His answer?

“It’s $1.8 million just in the mechanicals … I think it’s going to be close to an $8 to $10 million project when it’s all said and done,” he said.

That would be for everything, including hotel stays, basement cleaning, furnace replacement, and even the staffing to deal with the influx of calls related to the break, said Bryan Peckinpaugh, public affairs director for Brown’s department, in a follow-up call.

Work continues to make residents whole again following the Feb. 17 break, but Duggan and Brown on Wednesday touted speedy efforts to do so and reiterated the vow to work to make residents whole after what Duggan has called a “failure” of the water system.

Some other updates officials gave included:

• At its height, more than 200 households were in hotels following the break. As of Wednesday morning, about half remained in hotels but 30 were in the process of moving out, Duggan said.
• Officials believe they should be largely on track to have people back in their homes within six weeks of the break.
• Of the 110 households who lost their furnaces, half had their furnace replaced by Wednesday, Duggan said. Of the 90 hot water heaters lost, 60 were replaced at the same time.
• There were some instances of contractors and residents showing up at different times, but Duggan felt there’s been progress.  
• Five of the 29 vehicles taken to a police precinct in the aftermath were turned over to their owners, Brown said. Owners of the rest will receive a payout at the Kelley Blue Book-determined price.
• Those who place a claim with the city online should hear from an adjuster to immediately come out and check out the damage.
• Asked about premiums rising for residents who need to make an insurance claim, Brown reiterated the entities’ intentions to pay deductibles for residents and make them whole by buying cars straight out or paying for the cost of repairs. He said they would be “liberal” in making residents whole when it comes to damage to cars and homes.
• Most claims with the city are expected to be settled within 45 days, Brown said; the department previously indicated a notice of claim should be filed in that timeframe.
• A temporary road will be placed where the break took place, ahead of work to finish the permanent road fix, said Peter Fromm of the Great Lakes Water Authority.