Parts of Washtenaw County get almost 5 inches of rain in 3 hours during 500-year storm

Nearly five inches of rain fell on some parts of eastern Washtenaw County in just a few hours as storms swept across the area Wednesday night, Aug. 23.

The unusually heavy downpour qualifies as a “500-year” storm for a three-hour time period, meaning such an event has a 0.2% chance of happening at any given time, according to the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office.