June 17, 2018 Father's Day Flood

An overnight thunderstorm dumped about 7 inches of rain in 3 hours on our area.  Hardest hit were Houghton and Hancock.  Our driveway survived fine but it wasn't until we left for church that we began to understand the extent of the flooding.  Suddenly we had a lake at the end of our driveway.  When we drove into town, the creek was overflowing the road.  After church I saw some videos on people's phones of some of the damage and was quite astounded.  We have never experienced anything like this in the Copper Country.

The day after I took my bike to ride into Houghton along the old railroad bed and encountered several washouts.  This was the first.

This was the worst.  I am not sure what these plastic conduits contain.

The rocky slope heading down to Old Mill Road

Water overflowing the highway at the bottom of Old Mill Road.

Looking up Old Mill Road.

Twas a sight to behold.

The canal was brown.  All the local swimming beaches were closed because broken sewer lines had discharged raw sewage into the lake.

A hillside in the distance.

The road at Coles Creek had washed out.

The concrete culvert had been moved five feet downstream.

Fortunately there was plenty of sand available for fill from the near hillside.

The bridge at the Houghton Park by Chutes and Ladders was in sad shape.

The river flowed down the street.

A street near campus.  The basement of the Administration Building at Michigan Tech was totally flooded.

Stuck in the mud.

Agate Street was the worst.

You'd never expect to find your car buried this deep in mud.

The coffee shop patio in downtown Houghton.

The street opposite the shop.

The destruction seemed random.  One street completely destroyed, another damaged, another seemingly untouched.  It all depended on how the water flowed.