A 100-year-old woman was found dead in the flooded basement of her home in Warren, Michigan, the following day after heavy rainfall drenched most of Detroit.
Authorities reported that the woman, identified as Julia Sarno, apparently died from drowning after either falling into the water or suffering a heart attack when she checked the water level in her basement.
It was Sarno's daughter, aged 72 years old, who found her mother's lifeless body on Tuesday morning. She said that she was concerned on how her mother was doing and went to the house to check up on her.
Several neighbors of Sarno expressed their condolences, saddened by the death of the centenarian.
One neighbor, however, also expressed anger over the city's inability to handle a storm, resulting in the massive flooding.
"They should have had the sewer system better prepared, the city should have been better prepared for the storm, but they were not prepared at all," Matt Prisden said.
Sarno's death is the second one related to flooding that was reported in Warren, and the third within metro Detroit.
During the heavy rains on Monday night, an unconscious 31-year-old woman was rescued from being trapped in her car as the vehicle was filling up with flood water. It was later revealed that the woman had died due to a seizure.
A 68-year-old man, attempting to push his van out of the flood, was also found dead in the water. The man's body was dragged to a lawn nearby, where it was retrieved and rushed to the Beaumont Hospital. The man was declared dead on arrival.
According to information from The National Weather Service, Warren experienced a total rainfall of 5.2 inches on Monday. Streets and freeways became flooded, with many motorists finding themselves having to either abandon their vehicles to seek higher ground or to become stranded within their cars, where they spent the night. Over 1,000 cars were reported to be submerged in the city.
According to Jim Fouts, the mayor of Warren, thousands of residents in the city reported basements that were flooded, with the Warren City Hall and the city's police department also flooded with water reaching heights of 6 feet.
The mayor has officially declared a state of emergency for the city, and has asked the National Guard for assistance. The mayor has also requested the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide funds to assist the owners of homes that were damaged by the floods.
