\u201cLeelanau County is a small story compared to the issues in Grand Traverse, Benzie, and Cheboygan Counties.\u201d<\/p>\n
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So says Matt Ansorge, Leelanau\u2019s director of emergency management, when asked how the county has fared during this week\u2019s deluge of rainfall and flooding. In Grand Traverse County<\/a>, 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Leelanau, by comparison, has been lucky. While the county has faced the same perfect storm of circumstances that led to problems elsewhere \u2013 \u201cEnduring a historic snowfall event followed almost immediately by another historic rainfall event has truly pushed our local response capabilities to the limit,\u201d Ansorge says \u2013 the impacts have (so far) been significantly less severe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cOur lakes, rivers, and wetland systems are withstanding the added strain remarkedly well,\u201d\u00a0Ansorge shares. \u201cHowever, we are at a point where another round of substantial rainfall will have a devasting impact on our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ansorge has definite areas of concern. When The Ticker reached him Thursday morning, he was headed out the door to perform \u201cmore damage assessments\u201d throughout the county.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cResidents 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,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Leelanau \u201cmanaged to avoid the level of damage our neighbors have received.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cWe had countless locations of water of the road, and shoulder washouts, but have not \u2018lost\u2019 any of our roads or culverts,\u201d Mullane says. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Asked whether he\u2019s concerned about the Traverse Lake Road culvert failing and collapsing \u2013 something that happened to the Beitner Road culvert in Grand Traverse County \u2013 Mullane offers some reassurance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cI 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\u2019ve only had one culvert wash out in the six years I\u2019ve been here, and it was a much smaller one than this. Of course, you can never tell until it goes, but I don\u2019t expect that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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