By the time he sat down to eat his noodle soup in a makeshift evacuation shelter at a church in Fremont on the evening of Friday, April 17, Douglas Foster said he’d heard from his neighbors that floodwaters inside his home had reached his bedroom window.
The 83-year-old knew two days before that it was time to go. He woke up in his Bridgeton Township home along the Muskegon River and saw that the river was clearly rising. He’d already evacuated and repaired the home twice before.
This time would be his last, he said. Age-wise, he just can’t keep up with the work at the house he’s been at for 23 years, even as much as he loves fishing there and catching steelhead off the bank.
“I’m upset, but not like I was the first time,” he said of the recent flooding, later adding: “I don’t know if I’m getting used to it.”
Foster and Terry Malone, 84, both of Newaygo County, were the lone two guests staying overnight on cots at the Inspire Church in Fremont due to flooding in or around their homes, but far from the only ones waiting to see how much worse it could get overnight — if it would.
By Saturday, April 18, the Malones and others across their area, central Michigan and northern Michigan, were starting to get a sense of the answer.
In places like Evart, farther north along the Muskegon River, officials had reported six water rescues the day before. Officials there and in Newaygo County were set to hit the waters again on Saturday.
Places like Alcona, Presque Isle and Cheboygan were grappling with ravaged roads. Antrim County — where the Bellaire Dam, like the well-watched one in Cheboygan, had lower water levels on Saturday — was still watching the rain forecast for the day with wariness.
Cheboygan County, where rain and snow were on the table Saturday, called for those still self-evacuating there to hang a piece of fabric on their door to signify voluntary and safe departure to first responders. Agencies were starting to report hundreds of people affected by flooding tied to rain and snowmelt.
Flood warnings remained in place across northern Michigan on Saturday.
Newaygo County was among those with a flood warning slated to remain in place until the evening of Thursday, April 23.
Wading and waiting
Michigan State Police Trooper Maxwell Nichols, clad in chest-high waders, stepped into the waters encircling homes on Friday afternoon along Maple Island Road in Muskegon County’s Cedar Creek Township. He went door to door, knocking, to ensure people had left.
Not all had.
“We’ve been through this before,” one gentleman said, seated on his front porch steps, a bit of grass showing around the structure before disappearing beneath the surface of the murky water.
A minute later, the man clad in red shorts and a camouflage hat stood, holding his hand midway up the door. Would the water get that high overnight, into Saturday?
With more rain expected, the trooper had been told several more feet were set to rush in.
Minutes later, the man was packing up, hoping to get out before more barricades were put up.
It’s not looking good, he told an apparent neighbor who hollered from the road to learn the news, and subsequently dashed away to take care of things at his own house.
A place to stay
Foster and Malone looked to get a hotel room in Newaygo, but it was booked, Malone said.
Malone could, and might, call friends in another area to stay with, but there was “too much going on in here,” he said, pointing to his head clad with an Air Force cap denoting his veteran status.
“I don’t like being homeless,” he said.
Living on the water can be “adventurous at times,” said Malone, who lives in an area known as Devil’s Hole in Newaygo County. It can also be a pain.
He didn’t wait to be evacuated this past week. The water wasn’t yet threatening his house when he left, but it was expected. He called emergency services and got a ride out.
Malone, like Foster, planned to sell his property. He evacuated during a prior flood as well and also said age was key in the decision.
Foster stayed one night with his neighbors before wading back to his home to get his belongings and eventually landing at the church.
Foster had packed the innards of clocks he’d been working on and his guitar before making his escape.
He planned to deliver the clocks to their owners, play in a Bluegrass showcase already planned for Saturday and head out to family in Midland next week, after getting a chance to take in the impact of the flooding here. Though he noted there were reports of flooding there, too.
Boating to help
Offering the church as shelter just fell into place naturally, said Inspire Church Pastor Matthew Deprez.
Checking around for what was needed, church leadership found there were daytime evacuation spots available, but nothing for those displaced overnight. The church offered up its café area, with the men being the first to use the space after an extensive update to the building, and a grand opening at the start of May.
Police brought totes with supplies. The next day, Walmart donated some potentially better cots for the men’s use. An organization called Love In The Name of Christ offered up its day center for the men to shower.
And the men weren’t alone in need.
“It got dire because people were displaced, but there are people living in homes right now that are sopping wet and are also in need,” Deprez said.
Through it all, people were stepping up.
A local shelter took in Foster’s “best friend,” a 7-year-old Balinese cat named Simon.
Community members offered up their pole barns for storage for others in need. Still others offered to physically lend a hand.
Carl Johnson, 59, of Cedar Creek Township, took his boat out on Thursday to reach houses surrounded by water and help people lift furniture and lawnmowers from the floodwaters.
Speaking by phone from his camper, accompanied by his golden retriever, Charlie, the next day, he said he expected to be out next week with his boat, helping with cleanup. The waters, as of Friday, were the highest he’d seen, he said. And he saw a propane tank float by him the day before.
He canoed back to his camper, he said. He had put the summer residence on higher ground, but the property was surrounded by water heading into the weekend.
“It is what it is,” he said. “There are so many other people hurting worse than me.”
Walking up from where water covered the road on West South River Drive in Bridgeton on Friday, Shawn Murphy said his property in Holton was fine, but he wanted to take a look. The water levels appeared similar to a flood in 2018.
But looking across the Muskegon River at a house with his wife, Buffy Murphy, 58, they noted they could still see the porch on that house. That wasn’t the case last time.
Shawn Murphy, who said he was “50-something” years old, said the family posted on social media to offer up their field for community members to store boats or RVs.
That’s the thing about rural life, country life, Murphy said. Around here, “people are pretty good to each other,” he said.
The days ahead
After more rain and storms Friday evening into Saturday, the savvy canoer Johnson texted an update from his water-washed neighborhood.
“The last picture from my camera is our deck, and it is still there,” he said.
Officials sought to spread the message of their next actions. For places like Newaygo County and Evart, that meant taking to the water again by boat to check on people and secure debris.
A safety check was slated for Devil’s Hole, in particular, where Malone’s home is located.
“Crested and getting back to normal are two different things,” Malone had said the night before.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Evacuated Michigan residents wait to see how bad flooding will get
Reporting by Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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