Severe rainfall caused heavy flooding throughout the village of Northport Monday morning, with much of the area receiving anywhere between 3.5 to 5.5 inches of rain within a couple of hours. No injuries from the flooding were reported as of Monday afternoon, and a flood advisory issued by the National Weather Service was in place until 12:15 p.m. for northern Leelanau County.
Northport Village Council President and village resident Chris McCann, who was working at the Northport Creek Golf Course during the heavy downpour, said the severe weather event was unlike anything he’s seen before in his 40-plus years of living in the village.
“In all my years living in Northport — I have not seen that much rain in such a short amount of time,” McCann said. “We have spots on the golf course where we’ve been open for 12 years, same thing, water holding in fairways where we have drains that filter into our retention pond which are like 60-100 feet across because there’s just so much of it (water) right now.”
The village reported in a public notice today that as a result of the severe rain event, it has temporarily closed West 3rd Street near the Mill Pond Dam due to overtopping of the Mill Pond dam structure and associated public works activity. The dam structure, which consists of stop logs or boards, was reported as remaining intact.
In addition, the high water in the impoundment damaged the wooden boardwalk on top of the dam structure and fishing platform, removing them from their fixed positions. The Department of Public Works (DPW) and fire department have been actively engaged in responding to the situation.
It was reported that high water has made Rose Street near the intersection of 2nd Street and North Shore Drive near the Boat Yard impassable for the time being. People are urged to avoid any streets that are impassable and to not wade or swim in Northport Creek or any areas of standing water.
“The village sanitary sewer and potable water systems are operating properly. At this time there is no cause for a boil water notice,” the village public notice stated. “The village has no information or evidence of overflows or contamination from the sanitary sewer system. Village staff is in close contact with Emergency Management personnel and responding as needed to ensure public safety and protect property to the extent possible.”
The Leelanau County Road Commission also reported Monday that N Gills Pier Road is closed at 8133 N Gills Pier Rd. for thru traffic, due to a road washout until further notice. Those who have a home North of this address in Leelanau Township can enter through the E Onomonee Road entrance.
It’s hard to know what the conditions of affected areas are until the water recedes, McCann said. According to the weather forecast slated for the next week in Leelanau County though, rain and more thunderstorms are anticipated through at least the weekend.
Eleanor DeLizio, National Weather Service meteorologist, said the upcoming week’s weather forecast will be tricky to anticipate, as was the passing storm on Monday morning. The pattern she said they do see in the week ahead will include the potential for thunderstorms almost every single day, but pinpointing when and where exactly will be the tough part.
“A lot of this is influenced by what’s able to form over Wisconsin or what isn’t able to form over Wisconsin and then what can form closer to home right over Michigan or Lake Michigan” DeLizio said. “We do have those chances for most days this week, we also have chances for very hot temperatures because we do have a warm and humid air mass just moving up here that will linger for awhile, but again, timing those out and knowing exactly where some of the strongest storms or the most impacts are going to be is going to be a little bit tough.”
McCann said the village had some planned repairs, specifically for the Rose Street culvert in town, and the question as to how the flooding will impact those plans and other structures is one that the village will have to assess in the weeks ahead. He said the flooding event is a great example for the community to look at what the impacts of these weather events can be on village infrastructure.
“Now it's just a matter of waiting for the water to sort of flush itself out and I think then we’ll have to look at some assessments,” McCann said. “Obviously if we would have done the culvert replacement on Second and Rose there that we’ve been trying to do, there may not have been as much flooding by the township office and the depot and the museum, but hopefully that’s something that in the future when we do have the culvert replacement that will mitigate another situation like that because it does seem like we’re having these large rain events a little more frequently than usual.”
Northport resident and village council member Will Harper went out to check on the flood situation after 11 a.m. on Monday and also said he had never seen a flooding event like this in his many years of living in town.
“It (the flood) overwhelmed the Mill Pond bridge… and there’s a ton of debris in the marina. It’s a totally surreal scene,” Harper said. “Everybody always wondered what would happen if that dam gave way, and now we know.”
Harper said he hopes the damage from the flooding is minimal, noting that there very well could be road damage to high impact areas like Park Street, Haserot Park, the marina, and the Mill Pond dam. There were also a number of reports via social media from Northport residents on Monday of significant flooding in residential homes and some businesses.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around how significant and historic this is, but at the same time, I’m very, very grateful that the damage seems to be far less than anybody thought it would be,” Harper said.
The Northport village council recently approved language for a Mill Pond dam millage in which the electorate would vote on in the upcoming general election. McCann said the next few months leading up to the millage election is an opportunity for proponents on both sides of the issue to make their stances known and to continue providing the public with more information.
“It all goes back to that safety risk management — what can we do to do what's best for the community and that brings on a lot of different aspects. It’s hard to just dial it down to just one thing like the Mill Pond dam needs to be saved for this or needs to be removed for this — it’s a compilation of a lot of different reasons for or against,” McCann said.
