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Thousands In Michigan Evacuate After Two Dams Are Breached (accuweather.com) 113

Posted by BeauHD from the rain-swollen dept.
schwit1 writes: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an emergency declaration after the Edenville Dam and Sanford dams failed in Midland County, forcing thousands of residents to immediately evacuate their homes on Tuesday. Downtown Midland could be under 9 feet of water by Wednesday morning, Gov. Whitmer said during a Livestream on Tuesday night following the two collapses. A flash flood emergency is in effect for the areas downstream, which includes Midland City and Freeland, Michigan. "Extremely dangerous flooding is ongoing along the Tittabawassee River in Midland County due to catastrophic failures at the Edenville and Sanford dams," the NWS wrote. "A Flood Warning is in effect, and anyone near the river should seek higher ground immediately, avoid driving into flood waters, and continue to heed evacuation orders given by local authorities. Life-threatening flooding continues today."

The report notes the rising concerns among residents and environmentalists "about the potential of widespread toxic contamination after floodwaters mixed with containment ponds at the vast Dow chemical plant."
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Thousands In Michigan Evacuate After Two Dams Are Breached More

Thousands In Michigan Evacuate After Two Dams Are Breached

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  • Actual story says no issue with Dow ponds (Score:4, Informative)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @04:48PM (#60083828)

    From the very link in the summary:

    Company officials later Wednesday clarified that he flood waters were mixing "with an on-site pond used for storm water and brine system / groundwater remediation,"

    So no issues with chemical release.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 )

      That's what you think, but I've read on Twitter and Facebook that all that water was full of dihydrogen monoxide!!1

    • Re:Actual story says no issue with Dow ponds (Score:4, Informative)

      by cusco ( 717999 ) <brian.bixby@gmail . c om> on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @05:33PM (#60084012)

      And if you believe any press release from DOW Midland then I have a bridge with a great view of the Tittabawassee River to sell you. My cousin lived not far from that plant in the late '70s and there were **daily** siren alerts that toxic gasses had been released, residents had gotten so used to it that they just ignored them.

      • No (Score:4, Interesting)

        by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:16PM (#60084740)

        My uncle has lived in Midland since the 70's (still does, he was evacuated) and that is nonsense. I've spent loads of time in Midland, and have visited the "plant," and it's fine. This might come as a shock, but everyone who works at the Dow campus lives in Midland, and would rather not release toxic gas all over their town.

      • What you seem to be suggesting is that this plant doesn't have any problem with announcing it when they have a chemical spill. Apparently they're willing to announce it daily.

        That's good, sorta. Would be better if they didn't have daily chemical spills, but that doesn't seem to be a reason to doubt them in this case.

    • Any PR issued by any chemical manufacturer when its containment systems are at risk can be summarily ignored. It doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be wrong, it's just guaranteed to have a lot more to do with what they hope is the case rather than what is the actual case.

      • Even if they had tried to tell the truth, that is so foreign to the process of public relations that the press release would still end up full of lies. They don't even have the vocabulary to tell the truth.

    • Um, like at almost every plant they own in the world there are daily release sirens.
      It's cheaper to pay a daily fine and pay off cancer lawsuits, than it is for them to comply with the law.

      I really hope this is sarcasm

  • woah (Score:2)

    by vipvop ( 34876 )

    goddam

  • Fun Adventures (Score:5, Funny)

    by divide overflow ( 599608 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @04:58PM (#60083854)
    I want to motorboat the Tittabawassee River.

    There, I said it.

  • I hope the government helps (Score:5, Informative)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @05:02PM (#60083858)

    This is a real crisis, not only are people affected by the virus and the stay at home order but now they need to evacuate too.

    "Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!" -2h ago by @realdonaldtrump

    What in the actual fucking fuck!

    • No worries, Best Military (I assume that's a hotel chain) and @FEMA Teams (maybe a video conferencing app?) have this covered.

      "We have sent our best Military & @FEMA Teams, already there. Governor must now “set you free” to help. Will be with you soon!"

      "My team is closely monitoring the flooding in Central Michigan – Stay SAFE and listen to local officials. Our brave First Responders are once again stepping up to serve their fellow citizens, THANK YOU!"

      @realDonaldTrump [twitter.com]

    • Well, all those people clearly disobeyed stay at home orders and tried to vote! As if the USA was still a democratic country! What did you people expect Trump to do?

      • Re:I hope the government helps (Score:5, Insightful)

        by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary@@@yahoo...com> on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @05:40PM (#60084050) Journal

        It still is a democracy! You can, as always, choose between the corporate friendly candidate who slashes taxes for the rich and wants to make abortion illegal, or the corporate friendly candidate who slashes taxes for the rich and wants to make guns illegal. Your vote matters!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cusco ( 717999 )

          That is perfect phrasing, I'll probably steal it.

        • Get a vasectomy and buy a gun.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by Frank Burly ( 4247955 )

          You are too cynical by half. Very few Democrats want all guns to be illegal or slash taxes for the rich.

          But almost all Republicans really do want to make abortion illegal, shift the tax burden onto the middle and lower classes, and can be described as "corporate friendly" in the same way one might describe a prostitute as "penis friendly."

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by phantomfive ( 622387 )
            Let me see, almost all the bad is on the side of the Republicans, and almost none of it on the side of the Democrats. You said that with a straight face, and you wonder why people are cynical?

        • Except Republicans do want to make abortion illegal, not just regulate it. Democrats want to regulate guns but not make them illegal.

          • Except Republicans do want to make abortion illegal, not just regulate it.

            Most Republicans (67%) think some abortions should be legal.

            Most Democrats (59%) think some abortions should be illegal.

            It is not as black and white (or red and blue) as you claim.

            Abortion Views By Party Affliliation [gallup.com]

            • It's not black and white. And yet the party platform planks of many states continue to mention overturning Roe-v-Wade or making abortion illegal. It's mostly a matter of party leadership holding a more stringent view than that average voter for the party, and the same problem exists with Democrats as well.

              • IAnd yet the party platform planks of many states

                Party platforms are routinely ignored by nearly everyone.

                overturning Roe-v-Wade

                Overturning Roe-v-Wade will just get the Federal government out of the abortion business and return it to the states.

                It will become a real political issue again, decided by voters through the democratic process, rather than by a few judges.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by cusco ( 717999 )

                  You do remember why Roe v Wade went to the Supreme Court, don't you? It's because religious fanatics in various states have the ability to get laws passed that restrict basic human rights. If you're comfortable letting the Fallwells, Grahams, Dobsons and the rest of the American Taliban tell you how to live then go right ahead, overturn Roe v Wade and let that camel's nose into the tent. Give us some warning though, those of us in the blue states will need a little time to prepare for the flood of refuge

            • It is not as black and white (or red and blue) as you claim.

              Given the breadths of those definitions, while it's not black and white it's really no more than 0x010101 vs 0xfefefe. I suspect it is in fact much less black and white than that. The thing is if you take a literal interpretation, both positions are utterly absurd, for example:

              (67%) some abortions should be legal.

              That includes abortions of a non-viable foetus where it's going to die either way and the mother would die without an abortion. This imp

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Will Biden cut taxes? People keep telling me he will put them up to pay for his (Green) New Deal that he promised to help recover from C19. I heard him say he would do it so... Seems like maybe you do have a meaningful choice this time.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cats-paw ( 34890 )

      oh no. the what the actual fuck _really_ comes in when you realize that the Trump supporters will cheer this sentiment whole heartedly.

      the cruelty is the point.

    • Trump once again being the source of fake news. In the next tweet he will be complaining about fake news and how he is being treated so unfairly. He is a national disgrace.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by guruevi ( 827432 )

      What? Voter fraud is good?

      • What fraud? It's an absentee ballot application. Absentee ballots do not cause fraud. Trump himself has voted with an absentee ballot.

        • Absentee ballots do not cause fraud.

          I am permanent vote-by-mail. So is my totally apolitical spouse. I fill out her ballot along with my own. So my vote counts double. If vote-by-mail was not an option, there is no way she would bother to go to the polls.

        • Absentee ballots do not cause fraud. Trump himself has voted with an absentee ballot.

          So which one is the truth?

    • Are there protesters at the governor's mansion, switching their demands to go to bars, now demanding that they be able to exercise their Constitutional right to stay at home?

    • WTF is right, since it's actually legal. Trump has a bone to pick about absentee ballots because someone told him this is how people steal elections. Never mind that Trump himself voted with an absentee ballot.

      • Trump has a bone to pick about absentee ballots because someone told him this is how people steal elections.

        No. Trump knows that vote-by-mail will increase voting, which will destroy the Republican party's hold on power. Why do you think that the Republicans have been working hard on voter suppression and gerrymandering?

        Some quotes:
        "President Donald Trump said that if the United States switched to all-mail voting, "you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.â'
        "The GOP speaker of the

  • How come no one is protesting the forced evacuations? How is that different from stay at home orders? If anything, it's worse. You are being forced off your property.

    • It's not. They should have the right to stay home as well.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by spun ( 1352 )

        You side stepped the important question: Why is no one out protesting being forced from their homes? Why does no one EVER protest being forced from their homes in situations like these?

        • Why does no one EVER protest being forced from their homes in situations like these?

          Some usually protest by refusing to leave. It happened when Mt. St. Helens erupted, it happens every time there's a hurricane. Obviously those people often times die as a result.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by PPH ( 736903 )

            It happened when Mt. St. Helens erupted

            Yeah. And Harry Truman [wikipedia.org] is still bitching about it.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by spun ( 1352 )

            That's not the same thing and you know it. Where are the ARMED protests in front of the capital?

            • That's not the same thing and you know it. Where are the ARMED protests in front of the capital?

              So it doesn't count unless the protestors are armed? The Branch Dividians were armed. So were was Randy Weaver and his family.

              There are different kinds of protests that call for very different measures. Why would anyone who doesn't not live in an area that could potentially be wiped out by a natural disaster show up with weapons to die for one persons right to do so? As far as I know, the government typically allows those people to stay and die if they so choose.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by spun ( 1352 )

                It's not about "counting" it's about the specific thing I brought up for discussion. One loon dying in their own home doesn't phase me. That's not even a protest. A hundred loons with guns in my state capital is a direct threat. But you know this and are just arguing because it is your side being violent assholes. When it was the Black Panthers open carrying, the NRA said "Take away their guns!" and all the mouth breathing hicks said "Damn straight!" So Ronald Reagan took the guns away, and nobody batted an

                • It's not about "counting" it's about the specific thing I brought up for discussion. One loon dying in their own home doesn't phase me. That's not even a protest.

                  So in your mind one person can't protest?

                  A hundred loons with guns in my state capital is a direct threat.

                  It depends on who they are, doesn't it? If it's Al Qaeda or the IRA in the 1970's, etc., yes it's a threat.

                  But you know this and are just arguing because it is your side being violent assholes.

                  Actually, I didn't understand what you meant as you weren't very clear. Furthermore, I'm not sure which "side" you think I'm on. But I don't recall hearing about any violence at any of the recent armed protests either. Some I agreed with, others not so much. The recent protests in Michigan, I fail to see how showing up armed made any sense. But I don't know the

        • People do protest evacuation orders. There are always people who refuse to leave. Sometimes the authorities back off and let them stay. Sometimes they are forced to leave.

          A burst dam is hard to survive, but people usually survive after refusing to evacuate for a hurricane. People who refuse to evacuate for forest fires are much more likely to save their homes than those who flee. A garden hose and a shovel can be surprisingly effective.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      People in Midland are used to being forced to all kinds of absurd things by DOW and the refinery.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Tailhook ( 98486 )

        Well, try not to worry your pretty little head about it. Midland is solid white bread Trumpanzee land. The Trump campaign posters are still glued up from 2016. They don't really want you worrying about them or their problems; flood, DOW, "pandemic" or otherwise.

    • How come no one is protesting the forced evacuations?

      There aren't a bazillion memes on Facebook about it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        There aren't a bazillion memes on Facebook about it.

        Their network went down when their neighborhood flooded.

    • How come no one is protesting the forced evacuations?

      What makes you think that? I haven't heard any reports from this incident yet but there's always at least one asshole who refuses to leave because "it's my house" and who are you to tell them they have to leave. And then we have to send a SAR helicopter to get them off their roof.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        Some of these are the same guys who go ice fishing on Saginaw Bay after the Coast Guard has declared the ice unsafe, get rescued when the ice breaks up and floats out into Lake Huron, and then try to sue the Coast Guard for not also rescuing their snowmobiles and four-wheelers. We escapees don't call Michigan "North Redneckistan" for nothing.

    • Probably a dozen idiots with high powered rifles and snake flags went out to protest and got washed downstream.

  • Fake news, fake dam, fake water, fake flooding.

    This is just another scam perpetuated by the 5G stooges trying to bring in more immigrants as part of Obamagate.

    And anyone else notice that Bill Gates has 'Gate' in his last name?!

    Just go to the bar and keep drinking that Clorox, it's bleach for unbleachables!

  • I wonder what is next? Also, while difficult, I am sure there is a way to blame this in China, because obviously it cannot be domestic incompetence, right?

  • These two dams are like 100 hundred years old.

  • Fourteen Years of safety violations (Score:4)

    by kenh ( 9056 ) on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @10:53PM (#60085156) Homepage Journal

    Boyce Hydro Powerâ(TM)s history of violations lasted throughout the 14 years the company was authorized to run the nearly century-old Edenville dam, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which said it repeatedly raised concerns about the damâ(TM)s ability to prevent flooding during extreme conditions because of its inadequate spillway capacity.

    Source: https://apnews.com/51bb1b952dc... [apnews.com]

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