A 100-year-old water main flooded a Detroit street and turned the cars into ice cubes
- These Detroit residents woke up to find their cars had been frozen
- A 100-year-old water main had broken and flooded the streets
- Low temperatures meant many cars had been turned into giant ice cubes
Published on Feb 21, 2025 at 5:19 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Feb 21, 2025 at 5:19 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
These cars were turned into giant ice cubes when a 100-year-old water main flooded a street in Detroit.
Dozens of cars were frozen on February 17th when a 54-inch water main at Beard and Rowan burst in the early hours of the morning.
Several streets were folded as a result, and houses were affected as well as cars.
It took crews from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and Great Lakes Water Authority five hours to turn off the valves.
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How bad was the damage in Detroit when this water main broke?
As if flooding wasn’t bad enough, the low temperatures meant that the waters froze, destroying many cars in the process.
On top of that, many Detroit residents were left stranded and without transportation.
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Residents have had an uphill struggle trying to thaw their vehicles.
Local man Michael Muzzey told ABC7: “The first thing I thought was holy bleep. The second thing I thought was what am I gonna do about the cars.”
His vehicles were totaled, leaving him unable to get to work for days.
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Water had also entered the interior and frozen, leaving the cars beyond repair.
It’s a problem that many other people in the area have come up against.
The city is offering a free towing service for affected vehicles which will take them to the 4th Precinct lot for storage.
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Residents are also being offered free Uber rides to work and the grocery store, available via the city’s Emergency Hotline.
Anybody who has been left without power or heat has been offered accommodation at a hotel.
The city has also promised to pay for repairs.
Clean-up operations are still underway, and it could be a while yet before things are back to normal.
Cars turning into ice cubes – not totally unprecedented
This isn’t the first time that a broken water main has caused issues for locals’ cars.
In the Michigan city of Dearborn, vehicles were left frozen over in a similar situation just last month.
Down in Chicago, a bunch of Tesla owners found their cars stranded in a freezing cold parking lot.
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In general, water and cars have proved to be a risky combination.
One man learned this the hard way when he bought a flood-totaled Bentley for $9k, hoping that he would be able to fix it.
So there you have it kids, much like Gremlins, cars are best not getting wet.