Mid-Michigan flooding after Edenville, Sanford dam failures: Everything we know

[brooklynite]

Source: Detroit Free Press

Two overflowing dams — Edenville and Sanford — in the center of Michigan's Lower Peninsula amid days of rain has forced the evacuation of about 10,000 and caused massive flooding, which the governor said could put Midland under 9 feet of water.

As of Wednesday morning, the Tittabawasse River hit a historic high, rising above its previous record in 1986, and reaching 34.6 feet. Major flood stage is 28 feet. By the end of the day, the National Weather Service forecasted it would be at 38 feet.

Media reports had called Midland's flooding in 1986, which caused extensive damage to agriculture and destroyed homes, "the worst natural disaster in the state's modern history."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency for Midland County, saying parts of the city of Midland, the village of Sanford, Edenville Township, and Dow Chemical had been or were being evacuated.




Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/20/michigan-flooding-sanford-dam-edenville-dam-evacuations/5226796002/

[GitRDun]

1. This was no "accident"

The National Inventory of Dams (data comes from Corps of Engineers} says the following about these 2 dams:

High hazard potential
built in 1925
last inspected 2 years ago

Why would anyone be surprised these dams would fail in heavy rains?

We could probably use a few less F-35's and fix our REAL problems.

Maybe one day we will get our priorities straight.

[Stuart G]

2. Priorities?? Who sets priorities? National government, Who's in charge? Republicans & Trump.

[marble falls]

10. The low tax, no regulations with teeth people that were eleted, that's who.

[Igel]

3. Yeah, actually, it probably was.

Which "we" are you talking about?

The federal government "we"? National civic "we"?

State government "we"? State-level civic "we"?

Is it a "we" that includes us or is it really a way of saying "I mean them, but if I say that I don't claim authority to speak as one of the group"? For example, "we" need to fix something when we really mean "the company-owner needs to fix something".


https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/tittabawassee-river-expected-to-crest-at-38-feet-6-feet-over-previous-record

Several records indicate that the Edenville Dam, which is owned by Boyce Hydro Power LLC, had been cited several times for failing to issue repairs to the dam. Records show the largest concern to regulators was the dam didn't have enough spillway capacity to ensure the dam would not fail if water levels increased and flood potential grew.

After several violations and years of cited problems with the infrastructure, the company agreed to sell the dam in January.

Some repairs had been made (from other sources), but the big one wasn't something that broke or was failing but something that needed to be altered to bring it up to new guidelines.

This isn't in the "everything we know" article. Don't know who it was going to be sold to.

[hatrack]

5. It was to be sold to a consortium of municipalities . . .

They would have decided how to deal with the dams - either tear them down or upgrade them.

Too little, too late, as it turned out.

[GitRDun]

12. It's obvious who "we" is

The public.

The assertion that a 100 year old dam failing is an accident is absurd on its face.

Sediment build up at the base over 100 years as well as increasing storm intensity in recent years due to climate change makes the high hazard rating a no brainer.

My assertion was simple. Maybe a few less guns and a little more infrastructure spending.

You seem to be implying some negativity on my part that isn't there.

Not sure why...

[Stuart G]

4. 10,000 evacuated..Midland Michigan, (population 41,000) flooded under 9 feet of water

[tclambert]

14. Where can they put 41,000 people? Surely they won't crowd them into a sports arena.

There's a pandemic going on. You gotta maintain 6 feet separation while you flee the catastrophe.

[eggplant]

6. And of course, Dow Chemical is in the mix.

Because, of course they are. Can't have widespread flooding without requiring a Superfund cleanup.

[Yonnie3]

7. Dow Chemical - flood waters commingling with on-site containment ponds

Link to tweet

[yaesu]

8. I remember the '86 flood, spent hours trying to drive 40 miles to check out the family cabin, all

the roads, bridges were washed out & we were 70 miles west of Midland. There was a T-storm train that dumped an ungodly amount of water on us in a very short time.

[gristy]

9. This article is 6 hours old. Both the Edenville and Sanford dams have been breached

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52735170

[Stuart G]

11. At the link above, there is a picture of flood, and a map..please hit link if you have time..

Incredible picture of flood.

[westen]

13. Sanford Dam

Sanford dam has not failed yet. There is still a possibility it may as the water is starting to recede.
City of Midland has a pop of 44000. Midland county has over 80000. Many of the main roads with bridges over the rivers have washed out. The national guard is out rescuing stranded people that can't get out of the flooded areas. Main highways, US 10, are closed in both directions with major structural damage to bridges. It will be a few years before they are all repaired.

It will be a few days before the water recedes enough for home inspections. Many have lost everything with no flood insurance because areas that have flooded have never flooded before.
Some houses are just gone.

Other cities are still in its path. Freeland, Saginaw, and Bay City.

[Eugene]

15. Mich. governor says state will seek 'legal recourse' over failed dam

Source: Washington Post

Mich. governor says state will seek ‘legal recourse’ over failed dam

By Jacob Carah, Frances Stead Sellers, Andrew Freedman and Steven Mufson
May 20, 2020 at 9:49 p.m. EDT

MIDLAND, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that the state will "pursue every line of legal recourse" against entities responsible for the failure of a river dam that forced thousands of residents to flee gushing floodwaters amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Homes downstream from the dams were inundated by as much as nine feet of water, as the surge compromised a second structure along Michigan’s Tittabawassee River. As 10,000 residents evacuated the city of Midland, a central Michigan community of about 40,000 people, the river reached a level more than a foot higher than the previous record.

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy — or EGLE — attributed the disaster to historic rainfall and deferred maintenance at the Edenville Dam, which is owned by Boyce Hydro Power LLC.

Federal regulators revoked the Edenville Dam’s license to produce hydroelectric power in 2018 over whether it could handle big floods.

“This incredible damage requires that we hold people responsible,” Whitmer said during a news conference Wednesday outside a high school being used to shelter evacuees. “The initial readout is that this was a known problem for a while, and that’s why it’s important that we do our due diligence and that we take our action as merited.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2020/05/20/8ee0b9b6-9aad-11ea-a282-386f56d579e6_story.html