2 dams fail, forcing thousands to flee
MIDLAND, Mich. — Floodwaters have overtaken dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people from communities in central Michigan, where the governor warned that the hometown of Dow Chemical Co. could end up under about 9 feet of water by Wednesday evening and said the state will investigate the dam operators.
Families living along the Tittabawassee River and connected lakes in Midland County were ordered to leave home Tuesday evening, the second time in less than 24 hours. By Wednesday morning, water several feet deep covered some streets, parking lots and parkland and had reached a hotel near the river in downtown Midland.
The river topped a previous record reading of 33.9 feet set during flooding in 1986, the National Weather Service said. Its flood stage is 24 feet, and it was expected to crest by day’s end at about 38 feet.
The Weather Service urged anyone near the river to seek higher ground following “catastrophic dam failures” at the Edenville Dam, about 140 miles north of Detroit, and the Sanford Dam, about 7 miles downriver.
Midland City Manager Brad Kaye said Wednesday that the Sanford Dam is overflowing but that the extent of the structural damage is not yet known.
If the entire dam structure is gone, as opposed to portions of it, “there would be a much higher surge that will come down the river and that could raise the level much more quickly than what we’re seeing right at the moment,“Kaye said.
The evacuations come as Michigan remains under a stayathome order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. While Michigan has been a national hot spot for COVID19, with more than 52,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, Midland County has had fewer than 80 cases and under 10 deaths. Still, some dealing with the flooding and evacuations remained aware of the dangers posed by the virus.
Area schools were set up as shelters Tuesday, with cots spaced apart to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said downtown Midland, a city of 42,000 people, faced an especially serious flooding threat.
“In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately 9 feet of water,” the governor said during a late Tuesday briefing. “We are anticipating an historic high water level.”
On Wednesday, Whitmer told reporters that her office has been in touch with the federal government and will ask FEMA for support.
“This is an event unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” she said.
Whitmer said the state would investigate the operators of the dams and “pursue every line of legal recourse we have.”