CATASTROPHIC

Two Michigan Dams Fail, Unleashing Flood and Thousands of Evacuations

Excessive rain stretched the Edenville and Sanford Dams past full capacity, leaving city of 40,000 to face “500-year flood” levels.

A second dam in central Michigan failed late Tuesday after two days of heavy rain, unleashing a flood on the city of Midland and neighboring counties and prompting evacuation orders. The Edenville Dam collapsed at 5:45 p.m. CT, followed an hour later by the Sanford Dam, after 3 to 5 inches of precipitation. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a declaration of emergency and told residents “do not hesitate” to evacuate, despite the state’s stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus pandemic. “If you’re in an impacted area, please evacuate,” Whitmer said during a Wednesday press conference. About 10,000 people were forced to evacuate after the water flooded streets, parking lots, and surrounded buildings. Residents in Ohio and Kentucky were advised to flee due to heavy rain and flooding as well. Whitmer said her office will “pursue every line of legal recourse” for the dam failures, adding, “This incredible damage requires that we hold people responsible.”

The river’s flood stage is expected to reach 38 feet by the end of Wednesday, nearly 5 feet above the region’s historic flooding in the 1980s, according to the National Weather Service. “While the 1986 flood was a 100-year flood, what we’re looking at here is an event that is the equivalent of a 500-year flood,” City Manager Brad Kaye told MLive. “It’s something that is extremely rare, extremely catastrophic, and quite dangerous.”