"The State Emergency Operations Center is already activated and fully engaged in the response," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. "State officials from multiple departments have been on-site throughout the day." Shelters for Edevenville Township residents were have been set up in schools in surrounding areas.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Emergency for areas downstream of the dam.
The NWS said Tuesday that Midland has received about several inches of rain Sunday, which resulted in "tremendous" runoff. More than 50 roads have been closed in the region.
“A very slowly moving storm system and cold front pushing through the Midwest has produced anywhere from 100 to 200 mm (3 to 8 inches) of rainfall in just the past week from the western Great Lakes through northern Indiana and into southern Missouri,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston said.
The evacuations in Michigan came after days of heavy rainfalls in parts of the Midwest that also caused flooding in Chicago and other parts of Illinois, northwest Indiana, Ohio and other states.