by Bob Walsh
Central Michigan has problems, not all of them related to Covid-19 or moronic government officials.
A couple of dams on the Tittabawassee River gave up the ghost and failed, dumping a shitload of water into the surrounding area. Midland, a city of about 42,000 less than ten miles downstream from the Sanford Dam looks like it will be especially slammed, possibly being inundated with nine feet of water on the city.
The residents near the Edenville Dam were evacuated, the residents were then told they could return home, then residents were told to run for their lives.
The feds decertified the Edenville Dam in 2018 due to safety compliance issues related mostly to spillway capacity. The spillway could only handle about 50% of the reservoir capacity. Boyce Hydro, the operator of the dam, responded that the odds of such a flooding event in the next ten years was 5-10 in one million. Damn, I guess they were really unlucky. The dam is about 95 years old. Both dams were in the process of being sold. (You want to buy a dam, damn cheap?)
The problems are centered at the towns of Edenville and Sanford especially, and Midland County in general.
Dow Chemical, which has facilities in the area, has activated it's own emergency operations center.
The well-known Willis Tower in Chicago lost its power for days due to the same storm dumping 25 feet of water into their subbasement. I guess they need a bigger sump pump.
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