Dams Fail in Central Michigan; Evacuations Underway

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
That rain sure caused a lot of flooding around here, esp near the rivers. My swamp crested after the stream rose above the culvert about four inches. It was clear of any blockage and had a good whirlpool going. If you got sucked into that, you'd have been done for. I had a 3ft wide running steam on the road from that culvert to the next way down the road, fun to have to navigate while driving.

The local dam was full and choppy as hell and splashing over the spillway. The problems over by Midland would seem minor if our dam failed. The water on my road has subsided, but all that water in my water shed is going forcefully toward the river. Has me worried.

Midland does have some huge "brine" ponds right next to the river (of course) and down stream to Bay City (a fairly dirty town) then lastly Saginaw bay that will get screwed royally by the polluted deluge.

Are you referring to the Hardy Dam?

I wasn't going to say, so as not to alarm anyone, but yes I am. Remember, just a year or two ago those barriers on the spillway got dislodged and needed repairs. I have other concerns as well, but I have heard no reports or talk of any problems other than high water and flooding. Roger's dam, and others upstream, who can say?

Not a happy read at all.....I had NO IDEA Michigan had so many dams!!!
Midland flooding highlights Michigan’s aging stockpile of neglected dams

Almost 300 dams — or 12 percent — have a “high” or “significant” hazard potential rating.

About two-thirds of Michigan’s dams have reached their intended 50-year design life

Over the next five years, this number will grow to approximately 80 percent

There are 271 Michigan dams over 100 years old

Only 86 new dams have been built in the last 25 years

90 percent of Michigan dam’s with a “high” hazard rating are more than 50 years old

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: Metallicus

originally posted by: watchitburn

originally posted by: chiefsmom
a reply to: FamCore

Bring it on.

Lord knows this state needs something.

But damn if our governor won't blame this on someone else.
Not her fault

It's a racist dam that wants to make her look bad.

Ban assault dams!

Whitmer doesn’t need any help looking bad.

...she has mirrors. Woman looks like someone set Katy Perry's face on fire and stomped it out with a work boot that had ice cleats attached to it...

Lol. I live in Bay City, which is pretty close to the flooding. I recently told someone that Whitmer reminds me of a cartoon character that got hit in the face with a shovel. The glare from that forehead could bring down a plane.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
That rain sure caused a lot of flooding around here, esp near the rivers. My swamp crested after the stream rose above the culvert about four inches. It was clear of any blockage and had a good whirlpool going. If you got sucked into that, you'd have been done for. I had a 3ft wide running steam on the road from that culvert to the next way down the road, fun to have to navigate while driving.

The local dam was full and choppy as hell and splashing over the spillway. The problems over by Midland would seem minor if our dam failed. The water on my road has subsided, but all that water in my water shed is going forcefully toward the river. Has me worried.

Midland does have some huge "brine" ponds right next to the river (of course) and down stream to Bay City (a fairly dirty town) then lastly Saginaw bay that will get screwed royally by the polluted deluge.

Are you referring to the Hardy Dam?

I wasn't going to say, so as not to alarm anyone, but yes I am. Remember, just a year or two ago those barriers on the spillway got dislodged and needed repairs. I have other concerns as well, but I have heard no reports or talk of any problems other than high water and flooding. Roger's dam, and others upstream, who can say?

When I was a kid back in the late 60s we were camping in that area. I don't remember which dam it was, but there was a deluge of water in the campground from one of them. It was very deep and we of course had to leave. That reminded me of that event.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
Not a happy read at all.....I had NO IDEA Michigan had so many dams!!!
Midland flooding highlights Michigan’s aging stockpile of neglected dams

Almost 300 dams — or 12 percent — have a “high” or “significant” hazard potential rating.

About two-thirds of Michigan’s dams have reached their intended 50-year design life

Over the next five years, this number will grow to approximately 80 percent

There are 271 Michigan dams over 100 years old

Only 86 new dams have been built in the last 25 years

90 percent of Michigan dam’s with a “high” hazard rating are more than 50 years old

Michigan is an incredible state, full of natural and man-made wonders. It's just too bad we have to have idiots running the show most of the time.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: HalWesten
The pictures were awful!!!

Is the Sanford Dam still holding?
Some sites say yes, others say no, or they say they aren't sure.

The flood waters, the empty lake bed, the displaced residents.....just heartbreaking.

Yes, so far. The breakwall was damaged which let the pressure off the dam itself, as designed. If the dam had collapsed most of Sanford and parts of Midland would have been wiped out. As it is, the affected part of Midland has been shut down just a little while ago due to the flood waters invading the septic system. Almost all of the western part of the city was given another evacuation notice an hour or so ago, mandating that people leave their homes so they don't get sick from sewage backing up.

Link to alert

The good news is the Tittabawasee River peaked yesterday at 35' and is dropping. The co-mingling of flood water and some of Dow Chemical's ponds was found to be non-hazardous because the ponds only hold non-toxic wastewater and brine somethingorother. Despite the Twits going bezerk over their claims of chemicals in the water, there aren't any.

a reply to: HalWesten

Thanks for the update.

I found this article today! Up until this year, Michigan continued to allow that dam to function unfixed.
Four Lakes wad trying to do the right thing....their last update is 4-28-20, so I guess the Covid lockdown stopped their progress??
www.four-lakes-taskforce-mi.com...

www.freep.com...

On May 2, the update stated the refilling had progressed to only 6 inches below summer lake levels. "At this level the majority of lakefront owners should have adequate water depths for placement and normal use of boat hoists and docks," the statement read.

The next day, the association reported the lake levels had fully reached summer numbers.

Feds revoked dam’s license over safety issues. Then Michigan deemed it safe.

Michigan regulators “had strong concerns the dam did not have enough spillway capacity” in the event of heavy rains and “expressed those concerns,” said Nick Assendelft, a state energy spokesperson.

But regulators did not move beyond “continued conversations” about repairs, he said. Instead, the state was focused on what it called illegal efforts by Boyce to lower water levels the past two years.

There is plenty of blame to go around, that's for sure. Boyce screwed up by not maintaining the dam, the State screwed up by not enforcing their citations. It's unfortunate for a lot of families that money and bad politics (protecting an invasive mussel?) caused thousands of people to either lose their homes or messed them up badly.

My co-worker that was evacuated told us this morning that his neighbors said his house may only have damage in the basement rather than on the first floor like they thought it might. He's coming back to Midland today to evaluate. A friend's daughter and her boyfriend lost everything in their apartment in Sanford, water rushed through the building like a tornado and tore everything up.

We truly got lucky this time, we only lost some roads & bridges in our area.