The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments launched an online flooding survey on Wednesday, July 22, asking residents of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Beverly Hills, and Bingham Farms to describe how flooding has affected their basements, yards, and streets.
The free survey is open to all residents at bit.ly/3Tpljzk.
SEMCOG says it will use responses to shape its Flooding and Resilience Plan for Southeast Michigan, a regional blueprint guiding local governments on where to invest in flood mitigation. No adoption timeline for the plan has been announced.
Flooding is already on the radar here
The issue is familiar in Birmingham. The city's GovAlert system logged five yard flooding complaints and five roadway flooding complaints in the first half of 2025, according to the city manager's July 2025 report. Those 10 complaints came out of 517 total citizen requests in that six-month window.
SEMCOG's Flooding Task Force, which is steering the broader plan, held its fourth meeting on June 9. Katherine Grantham, a planner in SEMCOG's Environment and Infrastructure group, is the task force contact. The task force is developing what SEMCOG calls a Regional Resilience Improvement Plan to identify flood mitigation priorities and position communities for future funding.
How to participate
Visit bit.ly/3Tpljzk or search "SEMCOG flooding survey" online. The questionnaire asks about personal flooding experiences and what resilience measures residents want to see in their communities. No closing date has been announced.
The Oakland County Times first reported the survey's launch on July 22. Crystal Proxmire, the publication's editor and publisher, categorized the announcement under Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Bloomfield-area communities.
Residents can weigh in before SEMCOG finalizes its regional plan, and those wanting more background on the science behind it can attend "Climate Change: Myths and Reality" at Bloomfield Township Public Library on August 6 at 7 p.m., where professor emerita Janice K. Means of Lawrence Technological University will present data on climate impacts in Michigan. Registration is required.
