But what about all of the people who are elderly and retired and don't have money coming in, right? This is how they plan to do it, Chipotle is giving away burritos on Halloween — and this year, you don't need to wear a costume, ‘We lost our whole town:’ Sanford salvages what’s left after flood destroys homes and businesses, © Jake May | MLive.com/The Flint Journal, MLive.com/mlive.com/TNS. Otherwise, Mary is unsure how many Sanford residents will survive. Methner has lived in Sanford for 35 years. It’s going to take years for us to recover from this," Mary said. “You can’t make this up outside of movie theaters. “Come to find out my truck maxes out at 104.”. The water was filled with debris. Like Methner, lifelong Sanford residents Mary and Dennis Schnettler never anticipated flooding would affect their home. Shelters sprang up around Midland. Besides being closed for two months amid a pandemic, Methner said she was never offered flood insurance when she first opened her doors. Devastation. Rodney unhooked a small, 12-foot aluminum boat from the trailer. It’s hard, it’s very hard," she said. She picked up everything off the floor while thinking: “It’s never flooded on the ground floor, not in 30 years.”, Thompson fell asleep around 4 o’clock in her house. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ” she said. Sanford Woman Finally Home After Flood Rebuild Ric Antonio. The recovery will take years. As the Schnettlers stood hand-in-hand on a bridge overlooking the damage, Dennis laughed as he remembered how happy he was when the bridge was first paved years ago. All of my fellow business owners in this town plus family and residents all through here have been wiped out.”. He lives on a canal on Wixom Lake and the water had climbed halfway up his yard. It was a little hairy.”, Kevin rushed to Midland from Bay City, hoping to help. “I just stood there like, 'Where is my house?' A new paved path leads to the cozy home, not too much bigger than the original, filled with hardwood floors, granite counter tops, and brand new appliances, heating and cooling. The water looked like day-old latte — cold and light brown. “We can redo it,” she said. "No words can really describe what we’re feeling.”, “We hope they support us," Dennis added. “That’s two months of no work, and now no building.”. Sep 24, 2020 @ 5:00am . We still have our house,” she said. Houses vanished. “I was a little worried with three of us in the boat plus both dogs that it might be tip over,” Rodney said. Mike Desco was drinking beer in his mother’s backyard on Tuesday evening. Now, though, she remains unsure how she will afford that undertaking. “Then all of a sudden I can see the water going down,” he said. It had torn down trees and whisked cars away like they were toys. She looked out her window on Tuesday and decided to stay, even though there were evacuation orders. Bridges were knocked down. Methner and the Schnettlers hope the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide financial relief to residents and businesses. Along with the Edenville dam, two smaller dams — the Smallwood and Sanford dams — also failed, according to the Michigan Democratic Party. While waiting to reopen, Methner hired someone to help her clean the shop and prepare it for social distancing and other safety protocols. So we have a lot of people's papers right now. EEE! Telephone poles were knocked down. The beds were placed 6 feet apart because of the coronavirus. It came in quick.”, She grabbed some pants, shoes, shirts and dog food: “I said, ‘Everything else is replaceable, let’s go.’ ”. Soon after, Sanford and Wixom Lakes began to flood. Mike Desco and his wife, Jenn, who live in Beaverton, had just fallen asleep around 11 o’clock on Monday night. “I’ve been shut down for two months with the possible of more because I’m a hair dresser," Methner said. It used to be right there next to that fence. Neighbors hugged. After neighbors shared her story, both Great Lakes Homes in Freeland and the Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Interfaith Friends stepped up to help rebuild and refurnish penny’s home- at no cost to her. “I didn't want to take a chance to capsize in the boat.”, Rodney is an experienced boater but he was scared: “With all the news reports saying that the dam broke, I wasn't sure if it's going to be a tidal wave or if the water was coming up slowly.”. Then, she catches herself. “It still hasn’t hit me yet. Cars washed away. While the Schenttlers surveyed the damaged on a bridge near their home, Methner and her husband remained at CJ’s, salvaging what they could of the supplies and trinkets Methner kept around the shop. Mary expressed a similar feeling of disbelief and shock. And the virus seemed so secondary. ... Sanford Dam pictured on the morning of Thursday, May 21, 2020. “We had a 100-year flood in ’86, and I bought (my shop) knowing that (the water) never came up to here,” she said. Bev Thompson, 58, lived in a two-bedroom house in Sanford for about 11 years. “Wixom Lake came down on top of Sanford Lake and totally wiped us out. “I know that Midland got it, don’t get me wrong,” she said. A few hours later, Mike and Jenn returned again and the water had risen significantly. Sanford was a complete disaster. “I see my washer and dryer. The Schnettlers’ home survived the recent flood, but they lost most of their possessions. It’s kind of hard – 34 years of my life has gone, except that I still have some terrific clients, some terrific memories.”. About an hour later, she woke up, unsure whether it was her dog barking or her phone ringing. “Oh, I’ve had several crying sessions,” she said. It was like somebody pulled a plug in a bathtub and suddenly, everything went dry. Many residents rely on credit from local businesses and live paycheck to paycheck, Methner said. You have to be here to see it, to live it.”. Mike tried to put sandbags around the crawl space, but that was pointless because the water kept rising. She grabbed Dakota, a 13-year-old Boxer Shar Pei, and put him in a truck. '” Mike said. “It’s a little trickle of water coming down in the basement and we were prepared for that and had several pumps ready to go.”, More: See the aerial footage of historic mid-Michigan flooding. We don’t even know.”, Midland community pulls together as floodwaters recede, recovery begins, President Trump approves emergency declaration in wake of mid-Michigan flooding, Midland announces sewage issues for some residents and guidelines for returning home, It doesn’t look good, but Sanford Dam is actually still standing with some of berm washed away, Saginaw River reaches peak in Bay City without major flooding issues, Failed dam owner fought with state over Wixom Lake levels before flood, Flooding in Michigan: Everything we know about Midland County dam break. Some Sanford residents and business owners began the trek back home Thursday, May 21, after enough roads reopened for them to safely return. When she and her husband waded their way back to CJ’s on Thursday, she found out that the flood waters had completely engulfed the shop. The dam held for about 19 more hours, which allowed Mike and Jenn to return to their house several times on Tuesday. But in the midst of all that devastation, there was also something beautiful. Soon after, Sanford and Wixom Lakes began to flood. Wixom Lake was entirely dried out by Wednesday, May 20, and Sanford Lake continued to drain throughout the remainder of the week. It swept away boats, surged into businesses, demolished buildings and washed out roads. Outside Penny Tyler's new home (Photo- Ric Antonio; WSGW) Several months after historic flooding filled her Sanford home, Penny Tyler is finally sleeping in a bedroom. More: Wixom Lake turns into a giant beach after the Edenville Dam bursts, More: Donations pour in for mid-Michigan flood victims at Meridian school. The Schnettlers lived in Sanford during the 1986 floods, which Mary said ‘isn’t even close” to the devastation the recent flooding events have had on Sanford. All kinds of boats had floated into his neighbor's yard. “I always kept them on the wall, and they survived. "It was a cool setup now we got a stream. Will we have one? The water was creeping toward her house — farther than he could ever imagine — and he considered evacuating again. “I was lucky enough to find my kids’ senior pictures," she said. It’s a whole town destroyed by this, not just one or two. But where’s my house?’, “I lost everything,” she said. “Then, I heard the fire truck: ‘EEE! Sanford is a small village with only 859 people reported on the town’s 2010 census. “It was devastating,” Jenn said. TV5 first introduced you to Rebecca Johnson in June when she was working on restoring the power to her home. Rodney Feinauer got into his friend's duck boat and crossed the river again, to go check out his house. I can’t believe that made it.”. “It was old, broken-up concrete, and it’s back to that now,” he said. “It was like a movie, a nightmare movie.”. Now while the community waits for … “I sped here,” he said. "The basement was full of water. “It’s warped. “I put the seat back and laid there, me and the dog,” she said. As Sanford waits for federal and state aid come to the region, Methner noted that everyone is acting like “walking zombies," unable to comprehend how such devastation could have happened to them. He raised his pontoon boat as high as it would go on a hoist and tied it down. Sanford Dam, Smallwood Dam and Secord Dam — all dams under FERC jurisdiction — in a safe manner as flows recede. The water had picked up the tax building off its foundation and split it in two pieces. “I was like, ‘No, I don't think I'm going anywhere. “When the water is at 30 foot, we are all right,” he said. Just over 100 days since the Sanford and Edenville dams failed in Midland County, displaced residents find themselves struggling to piece their lives back together in the midst of a global pandemic. “We were here for about 15 minutes and it rose up, so we had to use a paddleboat to get out,” Mike said. Much of that water made its way to Sanford. The river had swelled so wide that it looked like a big lake. Tiny streams washed out roads and detours were set up. Methner and the Schnettlers aren’t sure what the future will look like for Sanford. Up the river, at Wixom Lake, which is no longer a lake, Jenn Desco broke down in tears. SANFORD, MI -- While the flood waters have subsided enough for most Sanford residents to return to their homes and businesses, many are realizing the worst isn’t over yet. “Then, in 2017, we had another flood, and again it never came up to here.”. The Edenville Dam broke on Tuesday evening, unleashing a violent, catastrophic flood through Midland County. “We have money coming in and will eventually be fine. A steady stream of people dropped off supplies at shelters and others showed up to volunteer. She knows that many have it far worse. A lake disappeared. Wixom Lake was like a giant bathtub that was filled to the brim and the water was spilling over the edge, flooding roads and rushing into houses by the shore. He argued to go back for the other dog. I’m totally in shock. Mike, 37, went behind his house and looked at the water. Evacuate! You see it in the movies, but we lived it.”. © 2020 Alpha Media LLC.All Rights Reserved. "It’s all about Midland. How many people rushed to help each other. The Midland area got more than 4 … I’m going to try to put another shop in here," Methner said. Methner understood why her business had to close during the pandemic and said she agrees that safety should be a first priority.
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