Rainfall across Northern Michigan heightens concerns of river flooding, dam overflows

Crews were working Monday to restore power to a shuttered hydroelectric plant in northern Michigan as heavy rain threatened to overflow a dam.

More pumps are also being added to Cheboygan Dam to help push water toward Lake Huron, Kathleen Lavey, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told the Associated Press.

The Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office said on its Facebook page Monday that people between the dam and Lake Huron should prepare a “go-bag” with medications, documents and other important items, monitor official updates and “be prepared to take action.”

Officials in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula are concerned about flooding as weekend rains threaten to continue through much of this week.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency Friday at the Cheboygan Locks and Dam Complex as record March snowfall and recent rains caused water levels to rise. No evacuations have been reported.

“We had crews on site overnight to increase water flow through the complex,” Lavey said Monday. “We bring in a giant crane and remove the dam gates. Even when the dam is open, it helps the water flow when you remove them.”

Crews from the DNR, utility provider DTE Energy and others are also using industrial wire trucked in from Illinois to help restart the shuttered hydroelectric plant. The station has been down since 2023.

“It will be put back into service to just move water through the dam,” Lavey said. “We have five very large pumps that pump from the back of the dam to the front of the dam. We are working very hard to try to get there as quickly as possible.”

A public meeting is planned for Tuesday to inform residents and business owners of the situation, she added.

A stalled weather front, “kind of draped over the Great Lakes,” is responsible for the rain, particularly over northern Michigan, said Trent Frey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

A southwesterly flow across the United States will direct warm, moist air across the front, he added.

“A flood watch is in effect for most of northern Michigan,” Frey said.

Flood warnings are also in effect for the Cheboygan River basin through Sunday, the Au Sable River and the Manistee River.

Flood gates also were opened at Mio Dam along the Au Sable River in the northeastern Lower Peninsula and Tippy Dam on the Manistee River in west Michigan, Frey said.

There are also concerns about flooding along the Sturgeon River in Houghton County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In addition to the rain, some areas still have about 15 to 30 inches of snow on the ground, said Chris Van Arsdale, emergency management coordinator for Houghton and Keweenaw counties.

“We’re definitely monitoring,” Van Arsdale said. “We’re still where we normally would be this year. All of our public works agencies are monitoring the culverts to see if they’re clogged or not.”

Authorities obtain readings from dams and examine river gauges to monitor water levels.

“They rise, but we rise there every spring,” Van Arsdale said.