Five years ago, on the evening of May 19, 2020, heavy rainfall and record flooding resulted in the breeching of two privately owned dams, resulting in the evacuation of over 10,000 people in Midland County.
According to FEMA, severe storms and flooding in 2017 caused over $100 million in damage to private and public property. Now, community members and organizations are taking steps to prevent devastation like this from happening again.
After the floods, the Midland Business Alliance (MBA) formed an advisory committee on infrastructure. Its first task was to address longstanding flood issues that impact the citizens, business community and economic development of the region.
Now they’re working alongside the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to conduct a general investigation study, focusing on managing flood risks in the Tittabawassee River Watershed.
The study is being sponsored by the MBA, the city of Midland and the county. Studies like these can take a few years to complete, and the Army Corp says they are in the early phases of coming up with ideas for possible projects.
At an open house hosted by the study’s sponsors, residents were encouraged to share their experiences, thoughts and opinions about legacy flooding in the region.
CJ Mikkelsen is one of the residents of Midland County who was evacuated after the dams failed in 2020.
“The feeling, and getting and getting the alert on your phones, and running for your lives basically,” he said. “I don’t want that to happen to me again I don’t want that to happen to anybody again,”
He’s representative of the many people that live in the area who are unsure of how the county is working to mitigate flood risks.
“I just want to learn as much as I can and at least have some idea of what's going on. I just want to keep up to date with what’s going to happen to my house,” Mikkelsen said.
At the meeting in March, the Army Corp collected data from the public about their experiences and opinions on possible solutions.
“It might be pump stations, it might be berms to hold back the water it might be eco-sensitive areas,” said Bill Schuette, Michigan's former attorney general.
He’s also a Midland resident and volunteer on the MBA Advisory Committee on Infrastructure. Schuette says this study is an investment in the community's future.
“We have to solve the legacy problem because over the course of 20 to 25 years this has caused over three quarters of a billion dollars in damages so for Midland's future for growth, we’ve got to solve this,” Schuette said.
Tony Stamas is the president of the Midland Business Alliance. He says while they can’t always stop flooding from happening, they can reduce the devastating damage it causes.
“There’s no one magic key, but how can we build resiliency and make sure that we have the tools as a community so we can continue to grow and prosper,” Stamas said.
Eric Ellis is a biologist and senior project manager with the U.S. Army Corps. He says while they don’t have a final schedule yet, he expects it to be four or five years before they’ll present a list of projects to Congress. Funds will likely be appropriated for projects within a year after authorization from Congress.
“To get a really good quality project, to get the engineering right, it’s going to take a little while and we want to make sure we’re putting in the time and the effort to make sure we’re doing the best we can,” Ellis said.
Ellis says the design phase is expected to take about two years.
