Last week, the Grand Opening of the Detroit Community ToolBank was held, launching permanent services for the region’s community sector. This week’s MU1 deployment feature focuses on work we did in Detroit 12 years ago.
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, a low pressure system passed through Michigan, causing an incredible amount of rain to fall in a short amount of time. In fact, the storm was a “500 year event”. 5 – 6″ of rain fell in the area in a four hour period. 1.8 billion dollars’ worth of damage was caused in the state. 130,00 families were negatively impacted. 18,000 structures were damaged in Warren County alone. In the wake of the storm, crews worked to get rid of water in basements throughout Detroit, Flint and the I-94 corridor to mitigate future mold issues and restore functionality to tens of thousands of homes. Many homeowners lacked adequate insurance to cover the damaged caused by the storm.
This is one of those “no-name” storms that doesn’t always garner national attention and easily fades from collective memory for those who were not impacted. But for those homeowners who struggled through months of flooded basements, sewage overflow, and mold issues, it is hard to forget. It certainly didn’t pass out of their minds within a week.
In a way, this is like a tool itself. Most of the time, a tool is not something anyone cares or thinks about much. Until they don’t have the one they need for an important job. Then it’s about all they can think about.
in 2014, the Detroit Community ToolBank was 12 years away from opening. Yet were able to deploy MU1 with all the tools and resources needed for partners to respond. We loaned tools over four weeks to All Hands & Hearts and the NECHAMA organizations. More than $1,000 in tools were loaned at no cost to partners or residents. And if another “500 year storm” should hit Detrit this year? We’ll be there even faster.
While the total value of tools is not as high as in other disasters we’ve responded to, they were critical is saving partners and homeowners from having to source and buy them. And the scale of the damage caused by the rain was no less. Just check out this contemporaneous video posted by our partners at All Hands & Hearts from their work with our tools in the Detroit region: https://www.facebook.com/reel/699174650136028
This is why the ToolBank itself exists: to pre-think about tools (and pre-purchase, pre-pack, pre-track) tools so community partners don’t to. We’ll be here, gear at the ready, when needed.
