MDOT seeks federal aid for backup generators to prevent freeway flooding Kirk Pinho/Crain's Detroit Business A section of I-75 was among several stretches of metro Detroit freeways that flooded June 25 after a daylong rainstorm dumped six inches of rain on the region. The Michigan Department of Transportation says widespread power outages caused stormwater pump stations to fail, leading to the depressed freeways to flood. The Michigan Department of Transportation is seeking $50 million in federal disaster relief funding to install backup generators in metro Detroit freeway pump stations after more than two dozen pumps lost electricity during a torrential rainstorm last month.