Nearly five years ago, heavy rainfall caused Wixon Lake to overhaul the Edenville Dam and rush down the Tittabawassee River.
This rush of water travelled south into Sanford Lake and destroyed the Sanford Dam, causing catastrophic flood damage to communities like Sanford, Midland, and the surrounding area.
Businesses, roads, homes and vehicles were submerged or destroyed by what officials called a “500-year flood.” One of the thousands that were affected by this flood was Linda Shephard, who was preparing to reopen the Sanford Lake Marina the day the dams failed.
“It was just a thriving little store, and so we got it all fixed up,” Shephard said. “Everything was perfect.”
She put in new shelves, an ocean blue floor and was getting ready for the days when she could sell food to anglers and have small talk with people as she helped fill up their boat’s gas tank.
However, on May 19, 2020, shortly after she was cleared by the U.S. Health Department to begin her business, she got an alert on her phone that the Edenville Dam broke and that everyone had to evacuate the area.
“There are these warnings coming across your phone,” Shephard said. “When I realized, ‘Oh no, this is going to get really bad,’ is when I saw tires floating because that means the water has gotten high enough that the tires are lifting off the docks.”
The flood went through her marina and the cabin she owns next door, and everything had to be removed because of the water damage.
“I mean everything was damaged,” Shephard said. “All the docks, the gas, nothing was saved except the one counter.”
Shephard says the only thing she could do was to get back to work at one of her other jobs and try to shake off the loss of a new business.
“I sell real estate and have other businesses,” Shephard said. “It was just devastating, though, because this was what I was going to consider my retirement, working at the Marina.”
The following days after the flood, Shephard said she had several friends and neighbors come help clean and gut the buildings so there wasn’t any more damage. Many residents around Sanford said that the community came together to help those in need.
“People were going by and helping pick up the trash, and it was amazing how the community came together,” she said. “Next thing I know, there are BBQ sandwiches, and there's a case of Gatorade. And every time I turned around, somebody was trying to help.”
Since the flood, Shephard hasn’t reopened the marina.
Sanford Lake lost a significant amount of water after its dam failed, and with no water, there aren’t any boats to fill up and any use for the marina's boat launch.
Shepard said the cost to fix the marina and cabin is around $350,000, and she still has a long list of things to repair before the building is up and running.
“(I’m) literally having to put the marina back together,” Shephard said. “From the ceiling to the floor to a new kitchen, bathroom, docking and cement, it’s like starting brand new.”
Despite the high cost in damages, uncertainty about the lake's water level and the loss of income, Shepard hasn’t lost hope. The marina is still a dream of hers, and she says that this summer she will be working to get it back up
I just wanted to be more than it was,” she said. “Now that I've had five years to think about it, on what to do, I just think it can be the place to come to, the place to be.”
Shephard is one of thousands of stories that come from the 2020 floods, and communities like Sanford are still recovering from the damage caused by the dam failures.
The Four Lake task force is overseeing the rebuilding of these dams and lakes. They hope to return the Sanford Lake before Memorial Day of 2026 and Shepard will be waiting with food, drinks and gas at The Sanford Lake Marina.
