Flooding has Michigan ‘in crisis mode now,’ Gretchen Whitmer says

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited Cheboygan Thursday: ‘We are in crisis mode’
Her comments came despite cautious optimism by many in northern Michigan that floodwaters have appeared to stabilize
A flood watch remains in effect through Sunday for almost all of the state and residents remain advised to prepare for evacuation

TRAVERSE CITY — At the Bellaire Dam, after days of worry and rising waters, Antrim County Drain Commissioner Leslie Meyers finally had reason to exhale Thursday.

Water was holding steady about a foot below the dam mid-afternoon and falling at an upstream lake.

“It warms my heart,” Meyers said. “But is the anxiety out of me? Absolutely not.”

No doubt. Tensions remain high statewide as more rain or snow is expected, after recent downpours melted spring snow and swelled rivers, creeks and lakes.

Dams from west to northern Michigan are threatened by what state Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, on Thursday called “a slow-motion disaster that’s still unfolding.”

The Boardman/Ottaway River rushes into a culvert under Brown Bridge Road on Tuesday near Traverse City. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
A house sits in the rising waters of the Boardman/Ottaway River on Tuesday along River Road south of Traverse City. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Beitner Road, south of Traverse City, is closed after the bridge over the Boardman/Ottaway River washed it away Tuesday night following heavy rains that have inundated the region. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Workers clear debris from the Boardman River Weir that was blocking the flow of the flooded Boardman/Ottaway River on Wednesday in downtown Traverse City. The weir is used to keep salmon from swimming farther upstream in the fall, but remains open the rest of the year. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Crews and a Brickyward Towing tow truck pull a fallen tree from the Boardman River Weir that was blocking the flow of the flooded Boardman/Ottaway River on Wednesday in downtown Traverse City. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
A picnic bench outside an office on Racquet Club Drive in Traverse City sits in water as the Boardman/Ottaway River continues to overflow its banks. Water over South Airport Road, seen in the background, forced the closure of the busy east-west thoroughfare through town. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Boardman/Ottaway River levels splash near the top of a bridge on Schumsky Road on Tuesday near Traverse City. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)

“This is a severe moment here … we are dealing with (the) impact of weather all across our state right now,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a visit to the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex, where the waters were rising.

“We are in crisis mode now. Recovery mode will take additional work.”

Woman with glasses in front of water wearing a safety vest. — Leslie Meyers is the Antrim County Drain Commissioner. (Scott Harmsen for Bridge Michigan)

Most of the state remains under a flood warning through the weekend. In Newaygo County, residents in the Muskegon River floodplain were ordered to evacuate Thursday, following evacuations from Alpena to Traverse City. Many more Michiganders were told to prepare for evacuation.

Asked what she thought would happen at the Bellaire Dam, Meyers said she “might be able to give you tomorrow night’s lottery numbers a little easier.” She said the weather would determine what happened.

But many northern Michiganders expressed cautious, watchful optimism that dams would hold and the waters would eventually pull back.

Just downstream of the Bellaire Dam, Fred Chacon said the water was higher than he’d seen it in the 12 years he’d lived along the Intermediate River.

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Spring melts usually flood his lower dock, but this year an upper dock was covered in water and nearing a guest house behind his home. He’d placed dozens of 60-pound sandbags around the back side of his property to try to hold the water back.

Across the river, the water had hit his neighbor’s home and flooded the basement.

Chacon said he took comfort in the water’s recent stability.

“I’m not too worried at this point,” he said. “I was way worried on Tuesday. I guess we have to get through one more big rainstorm.”

In Traverse City, Jill Noland and her husband rode motorized scooters down the middle of an empty, “surreal” South Airport Road on Thursday.

“This road is never not busy,” said her husband, Mike Joyce.

Workers looking at a sinkhole in Traverse City, Michigan. — Workers inspect a sinkhole that swallowed a street light and parts of a sidewalk, and threatens parking spots in the alley along the surging Boardman/Ottaway River between Cass and Union streets on Wednesday in downtown Traverse City. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle)

Traverse City officials closed a portion of the normally busy thoroughfare earlier this week after water from the Boardman River crossed the asphalt. Though it remained high roadside, the water had receded from the road by Thursday afternoon.

The closure snarled traffic throughout the city.

“I think it’s affecting everybody,” Noland said.

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