Flooding in Detroit leaves one dead, delays Chrysler production

DETROIT, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- One woman is dead, thousands of cars have been abandoned and Chrysler is operating on a delayed production schedule after the Detroit area was hit with over five inches of rain on Monday.

The deceased woman, a resident of Detroit suburb Warren, died of an apparent heart attack while her car was stranded in three feet of water.

Throughout the city roads and bridges were forced to close and rivers overflowed as flood waters accumulated.

"The Clinton River set a record with its crest at 20.8 feet," meteorologist Mike Richter told the Detroit News. "The record was 20 feet."

Four Chrysler manufacturing plants affected by flooding were able to open Tuesday, but will operate on delayed production schedules with minimal staff, Chrysler spokesperson Shawn Morgan said.

"Chrysler Group is continuing to monitor the weather and the status of road closures. At this time, it is expected that production on the second shifts at all plants will resume at the normal times."

"The one issue that makes this different [from other storms] is having the major freeways closed," Vicki Wobler, Macomb County director of Emergency Management and Communications, explained to the Detroit Free-Press.

"That hasn't happened in a long time. To still have them flooded the next morning and have some of the problems we have is different. We're not at a point of making any emergency declarations at this point but we'll see how the day goes."

Catalpa in Berkley @freep #miwx pic.twitter.com/hd4kzTsows

— Sarah Macdonald (@prspctrsrchr) August 12, 2014

@freep cars under water on 696 pic.twitter.com/T35T8ukrbf

— Detroit Networking (@MetroDetroitNet) August 12, 2014

This is bad pic.twitter.com/EQnfDr6j6l

— Robert Allen (@rallenMI) August 12, 2014