Over the weekend, Cadillac, one of many Michigan communities beset in the past week by flooding, did what it could to protect the transformer and pumps to its westside sewer operations.
Workers toiled late into the night to fill sandbags and build berms to keep the rising water out. They brought in a portable, industrial-sized generator. In the end, however, it was not enough.
“We’re still working,” City Manager Marcus Peccia told the Free Press at about 9 p.m. Sunday, April 19. “I’m still trying to help make sure that the guys in the field have the resources they need. We’re still out there.”
One of the largest northern Michigan cities partly underwater, Cadillac may turn out to be a harbinger of what many Up North communities could face as the people who live there attempt to recover from the weather damage as the summer tourism season approaches.
Some are hopeful.
In the middle of the state, in Wexford County, Cadillac was a place in the 18th century where Europeans would trade with Native Americans. Later, in the 19th century, it became a logging camp, and now, it is a popular summer getaway destination.
From the 1970s through the late 1990s, a gas station west of the city was home to Samantha or “Sam the Bear.” Sam, who was reputed to be the only brown bear in captivity to hibernate, died of old age. The city’s mascot, Caddy, is a bear.
Why residents are being asked not to flush
On Sunday, however, the city had to alert westside residents — and everyone serviced by the Lake Mitchel Sewer Authority — to limit water and sewer use until it could repair the damage. In other words, don’t put anything down the drain and try not to flush.
The water was safe to drink, but what residents didn’t want was a major backup.
Equipment was on the way, but the city warned that “it will still take time” to restore.
Will April showers bring May flowers?
Hundreds of residents — including Peccia — are trying to be patient.
“Floodwater needs to be pumped away, replacement pumps acquired, and the generator connected, all of which will take an undetermined amount of time,” the city told residents. In the meantime, it urged, all sanitary sewer use on the west side “needs to be reduced as much as possible (ideally stopped).”
Peccia said he didn’t know when homes could flush again.
“I really wish I could give you a solid estimate,” he said. “But, you know.”
How much rain fell — and why flooding was so severe
Since April 1, rains have deluged the city.
By Peccia’s estimate, there was a downpour of about a foot; add to that melting snow from an unusually heavy snowfall later in the season, and the city is now facing the kind of flooding that Noah did in Biblical times.
No one, however, had an ark.
A few homes, Peccia said, are a total loss.
“It has been a race against Mother Nature,” he said, adding, for reference, that “if you look at some of the pictures I posted online,” in which there’s a chain-link fence. “It’s a six foot-fence, and water is up to nearly the top of it!”
What flooding could mean for Cadillac’s summer tourism season
Residents will have to clean up from the flood, and could be in for a challenging summer because there could be damage that hurts the community’s appeal as a place for those seeking to enjoy a little boating, fishing, golfing, hiking, biking and camping.
Many Up North communities, like Cadillac, rely on seasonal tourism, and are now up against more than weather woes. They are facing worries about the economy and a war in the Middle East that, every time it seems like the conflict might end, tensions flare again.
And, as a result, gas prices are high.
Gas in Michigan on Monday was averaging $3.82 a gallon in Michigan and $4.04 nationally.
And yet, Peccia is optimistic.
‘Things, I believe, will get better’
“My honest opinion on it — and I’ll say this on the record — is that it is way too early to determine whether or not the upcoming summer tourist season is in trouble,” he said. “I think there is a very good likelihood that over the course of the next several days we’ll see the water levels crest.”
The flooding, eventually, will be absorbed, the city manager said. There will be, he acknowledged, some damage to repair, and residents with water so high it was rushing in through their windows will not be able to do so overnight.
But Peccia hopes the high gas prices and economic concerns encourage folks who might be thinking of traveling abroad to decide, instead, to vacation closer to home and go to Cadillac, which, he pointed out, is a beloved vacation destination.
“Things, I believe, will get better, and I do believe that the summer season is going to be fine,” he said. “As I say that today, I know that park areas are obviously very wet, and one of the premier campground sites in our region is also flooded.”
“However,” he added, “I also know that the waters will recede, and that, you know, things will dry out.”
Will it happen, Peccia asked, by Memorial Day, the traditional start of summer?
He added: “I certainly hope so.”
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cadillac flooding knocks out sewer system as city eyes summer recovery
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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