“Leelanau County is a small story compared to the issues in Grand Traverse, Benzie, and Cheboygan Counties.”
So says Matt Ansorge, Leelanau’s director of emergency management, when asked how the county has fared during this week’s deluge of rainfall and flooding. In Grand Traverse County, those conditions have collapsed bridges, opened up sinkholes, and closed major thoroughfares, among other catastrophic issues. In Cheboygan County, the conditions have forced many people to evacuate their homes.
Leelanau, by comparison, has been lucky. While the county has faced the same perfect storm of circumstances that led to problems elsewhere – “Enduring a historic snowfall event followed almost immediately by another historic rainfall event has truly pushed our local response capabilities to the limit,” Ansorge says – the impacts have (so far) been significantly less severe.
“Our lakes, rivers, and wetland systems are withstanding the added strain remarkedly well,” Ansorge shares. “However, we are at a point where another round of substantial rainfall will have a devasting impact on our communities.”
Ansorge has definite areas of concern. When The Ticker reached him Thursday morning, he was headed out the door to perform “more damage assessments” throughout the county.
“Residents around Little Traverse Lake are enduring high water levels, some roadways in Leelanau Township still have standing water over them, and the ponds at Veronica Valley Park have washed out access roads and threaten to negatively impact South Lake Leelanau Drive,” he says.
Brendan Mullane, managing director the Leelanau County Road Commission, is keeping an eye on a similar list of problem areas, but concurs with Ansorge that Leelanau “managed to avoid the level of damage our neighbors have received.”
“We had countless locations of water of the road, and shoulder washouts, but have not ‘lost’ any of our roads or culverts,” Mullane says. “As of today [Thursday], I know there is still standing water over Seven Pines Drive near Northport, and Little Traverse Lake is getting close to maxing out our culvert on Traverse Lake Road. I understand the Crystal River and many other creeks are still very high and are causing damage to property, but our road system appears to be holding.”
Asked whether he’s concerned about the Traverse Lake Road culvert failing and collapsing – something that happened to the Beitner Road culvert in Grand Traverse County – Mullane offers some reassurance.
“I don’t think it’s on that level. There was a lot more water on Beitner, and a lot more pressure and force. We might see some water running over the road, and maybe washing out the shoulder a little bit. But we’ve only had one culvert wash out in the six years I’ve been here, and it was a much smaller one than this. Of course, you can never tell until it goes, but I don’t expect that to happen.”
One road that did wash out? The access drive leading to the ponds at Veronica Valley Park. County Commissioner Alan Campbell, who also serves on the county parks and recreation commission, is concerned the damage could affect Kids Fishing Day, an annual June event he chairs. Flooding at the park, he says, has damaged “the only service road for park maintenance crews,” which “connects South Maple Valley Road to a maintenance building in the middle of the park.” Among other uses, Campbell says the service road is crucial for stocking the ponds with bluegill ahead of Kids Fishing Day.
“The bottom line is we need the road for access, and the pond for recreation,” Campbell says. “I expect that we’ll have a late addition to our county board meeting agenda on Tuesday, seeking funds for gravel and/or fill to at least hold the bank, and possibly to rebuild the road.”
Also affected by the flooding is the Mill Glen Arbor, the restaurant, café, and guest house that sits right on the banks of the Crystal River. Corey Smith, the Mill’s general manager, says the business has been dealing with “some puddles inside,” but that they fortunately “remain under control” and have caused “no damage” to the building’s structure.
Funnily enough, Smith says last month’s blizzard and the damage it caused probably significantly lessened the blow the Mill took from this week’s storms.
“After the blizzard, we had some water in the basement, and we took out some drywall and replaced it with waterproofing PVC material so that we could sustain water in that space for a long period of time.” Smith says. “Now, we’re able to withstand these situations better, if/when they happen again. And luckily, we have two dining rooms, so we can serve up on the main floor when we see some water on the ground, which is what we’re doing this week.”
Until further notice, Smith says the Mill will be utilizing “the large café area” on the main floor “for both café and supper services.”
While things could have been much worse, Ansorge is cognizant of the amount of damage locals have weathered this week.
“That is why we made the decision to declare a local state of emergency for Leelanau County,” he says. “The governor’s office also passed a state declaration of disaster, which opens up state resources to the local jurisdictions that are under their own state of emergency. Depending on the extent of the need for resources, the state can ask the federal government for a presidential disaster declaration. Should it come to that point, local home and business owners would be eligible for federal assistance for disaster recovery. There is no guarantee that there will be a federal disaster declaration, but declaring a local state of emergency in Leelanau County puts us in good position to receive additional assistance should our circumstances worsen in the near future.”
Pictured: Flooding at Veronica Valley Park (credit: Alan Campbell)