Cheboygan dam water level update: Residents told to prepare vehicles, families for evacuations
CHEBOYGAN COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Residents downstream of the Cheboygan dam should prepare their vehicles, families, and pets for evacuation as water levels rise to less than 6 inches from the top of the dam.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, the water had risen .72 inches from Wednesday afternoon, and was sitting 5.76 inches from the top of the dam. The Cheboygan County Sheriff's Office said people should be preparing necessary items and getting their families and pets ready to leave.
The sheriff's office is reminding residents of the 6 Ps as they prepare: plan, personal items, prescriptions, photographs, pets, and papers.
The state is following a ‘ready, set, go’ safety plan to prepare for evacuations. Water levels Thursday have pushed the plan to the ‘set’ phase:
- Ready: When water is 12 inches below the top of the dam with levels rising 3 inches a day or more. Plan and/or pack in the event an evacuation becomes necessary.
- Set: When water reaches 6 inches below the top of the dam, with water levels rising at a rate of 3 inches per day or levels rising 3 inches per day and predicted to top the dam within 48 hours. Prepare by packing and preparing your family, pets and vehicle for potential departure.
- Go: When water levels are 1 inch below the top of the dam with a high probability of topping it, with the potential for failure occurring. Follow evacuation orders; roadblocks may be installed around the perimeters.
Evacuation area
On Wednesday morning, Michigan Department of Natural Resources public information officer Laurie Abel said the levels will fluctuate, and people should not panic until the water level is consistently rising.
"It flows, it rises, it falls. The level is going to change slightly throughout the day," she said. "So, if you're watching it closely, you're going to see that, and you don't want to get into that panic stage of ‘Oh my gosh, we’re down near that 6!' until it continuously drops significantly."
Cheboygan dam water level update April 15
Officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources provided an update on efforts to lower water levels at the Cheboygan dam. Crews have been working to add pumps and sandbags in an effort to prevent a failure.
What you can do:
Residents who live between the Cheboygan dam and Lake Huron should be preparing to leave their homes in case they need to evacuate.
The sheriff's office said to remember to make sure this bag has medications and important documents. Residents should also secure outdoor items and move valuables to higher levels.
Residents are also urged to sign up for emergency alerts for the latest updates on water levels and evacuation orders.
If you must drive, use caution as there are many roads in Cheboygan County with standing water. These roads may not be marked with signs because the road commission does not have enough signage.
What they are doing:
Currently, the dam is open, and all six gates have been removed to allow the water to flow.
Pumps and sand bags have been added, with the DNR bringing in larger capacity pumps on Tuesday.
"We’re working from all different angles of this," said Mike Janisse, leader of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Incident Management Team that is deployed to Cheboygan. "We have many cooperators and everyone is putting forth a strong effort."
The lock on the dam remains closed because it is designed for a controlled flow of water as it raises or lifts boats to make the transition from Lake Huron to the Inland Waterway. Allowing an uncontrolled flow could damage the lock’s infrastructure and cause erosion that could catastrophically damage a privately-owned hydroelectric power house or cause erosion around the lock, jeopardizing the dam, according to the DNR.
US-23 bridge closure
The US-23 bascule bridge in Cheboygan has been raised to protect against potential damage from debris floating on the river.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, engineers have not yet found significant erosion around the bridge’s foundation, increased water flow in the river has the potential to scour the river sediment away from footings.
Safety of drivers and pedestrians is also a concern. If the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex were to fail, people on the bridge could be at risk.
During the closure, US-23 traffic will be detoured south to the Lincoln Avenue Bridge, which is upstream from the dam complex.
There is no timeline for reopening the US-23 bascule bridge, which will need to be inspected before it can be opened.
The Source: Information from the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Office, Michigan DNR, and Michigan's Emergency Management & Homeland Security were used.