Two Dams Break in Michigan due to heavy rains - cause major floods

**Dumpling** · May-25-20, 11:50 AM

The NOAA prediction for the 2020 hurricane season is for the season to be more active than normal. Arthur was the first named tropical storm of the 2020 season. According to the following analysis by meteorologist Mark Torregrossa at MLive Weather, residual moisture from Arthur was responsible for boosting the rainfall total in a portion of northern lower Michigan from "four inches tops" to eight inches.

https://www.mlive.com/weather/2020/0...ng-formed.html

So, though various governmental policies will deservedly be scrutinized, there really was an unusual rain event tied to the beginning of a probable active hurricane season. It isn't definitive that climate change is responsible for the flooding but it will be considered.

The warm weather we are having for this Memorial Day might also be left over from Arthur.

**Meddle** · May-20-21, 03:12 PM

U.S. NEWS®

U.S. FERC Pulls Licenses for Three Michigan Dams After Flood

Reuters May 20, 2021

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/artic...ms-after-flood

**Henry Whalley** · May-20-21, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

U.S. NEWS®

U.S. FERC Pulls Licenses for Three Michigan Dams After Flood

Reuters May 20, 2021

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/artic...ms-after-flood

Whatever became of rebuilding US infrastructure?

**Wheels** · May-20-21, 06:02 PM

Mi has some serious cleaning up to do in Lansing.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-en...on-dam-failure

**Honky Tonk** · May-20-21, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Henry Whalley

Whatever became of rebuilding US infrastructure?

Infrastructure rebuilding is only an issue during the election cycle.

**beachboy** · May-22-21, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by Henry Whalley

Whatever became of rebuilding US infrastructure?

From the article, it seems as though the dams are almost 100 years old [[sez they date from 1923) ... so who actually owns the physical structure of the dams? Was Boyce the owner, or did they only have a license to operate and maintain the dams? Does "Four Lakes Task Force" [[FLTF) actually "own the property associated with the project" [[per the cited US News article)?

Here is FLTF website:
https://www.four-lakes-taskforce-mi.com/about.html
[[what does "delegated authority" mean?)

**Jimaz** · October-24-21, 09:41 AM

Here's a recently released forensic report on the subject.

What Really Happened At Edenville and Sanford Dams?

In May 2020, heavy flooding resulted in the catastrophic failure of the Edenville Dam embankment, sending a wall of water downstream in the Tittabawassee River and completely draining Wixom Lake. The breach wave quickly overwhelmed the downstream Sanford Dam, overtopping and failing the structure. Over 10,000 residents in Sanford, Midland, and Saginaw were evacuated. The independent forensic team charged with investigating the event released an interim report in September 2021. The conclusions of the report include a discussion of a relatively rare phenomenon in earthen dams. Let’s walk through the investigation to try and understand what happened.

IFT Interim Report {PDF}: INDEPENDENT FORENSIC TEAM INTERIM REPORT