Black Lake and nearby waterways in northeastern Michigan became hazards under heavy spring rain and snowmelt, with ice breaking loose and moving into structures as flooding swelled rivers and lakes toward Lake Huron. In Cheboygan County, officials said rivers and lakes overflowed beyond their banks, swallowing docks, roads, yards, and homes.
Photos and video posted to social media Wednesday showed ice inside living rooms after it busted through windows and doors, with homes, garages and sheds surrounded by several feet of muddy brown water. The spillover spread through multiple connected waterways as spring rainfall and winter melt forced torrents of water through the county on their way to Lake Huron.
The Cheboygan County sheriff’s office told residents last week that Black Lake, the Black River, the Cheboygan River, Burt Lake, Mullett Lake, the Sturgeon River and nearly every other waterway in the county had overflowed, leaving shorelines “unrecognizable expanses of water.” The sheriff’s office also said homes along Black Lake’s west side were evacuated over the weekend.
Officials and residents described the ice as unusually large sheets that behaved like heavy, fast-moving blocks. Christopher Narsesian, who took photos and video of the damage, said the ice were “ice sheets” and described them as “massive,” adding that they were “mini glaciers” that “just run down everything in their path.”
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, Michigan, said if water levels were normal, lake ice would typically break up in place as it melts. Patrick Bak said the ice on Black Lake was, more than likely, pushed ashore by the wind, and that “the fact that the water was so high, the ice … had more room to travel.”
Michigan Department of Natural Resources crews also were focused on how the ice and debris could affect dam operations along the Cheboygan River system. Patrick Ertel, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Incident Management Team, said the effort aims to keep “large chunks of ice flowing down blocking up the gates,” and he described how marine vessels on the Cheboygan River work to break up chunks while dam operations move water toward relief for Mullett Lake.
Ertel said state crews added pumps and restored power to an old hydroelectric station to increase water flow through the dam, and cranes were used to remove gates that hold back water. The state faced an additional complication after a large chunk of ice snapped the safety cable at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex on April 9, prompting the department to close access points upstream and downstream of the dam.
The smaller Alverno Dam sits between Black Lake and the Cheboygan River, and Ertel said ice from Black Lake would be held up rather than allowed to make it down to the Cheboygan River. He also said the department had “managed a little bit of ice issues on Mullett Lake,” describing the continued efforts to move water safely through the system.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Cheboygan and more than 30 other Michigan counties, citing flooding and other severe weather this month. As water receded, Narsesian said the aftermath remained a concern, noting that levels were still high and ice still floated in the lake as long as wind did not push it back toward homes.
Narsesian said he had never seen flooding like this in the community where, he said, “everybody knows everyone.” He added that flood insurance was “never necessary” there because people had typically not seen homes flood in the past, while he described the current situation as “a lot” and said many residents had “no help — coverage.”