GLENNIE — Two Consumers Energy hydro electrical dams on the Au Sable River have reached Condition C following heavy rains, according to Consumers Energy officials.

The dams include the Alcona Dam in Curtis Township and the Mio Dam located in Mio.

Consumers Energy Spokesman Terry DeDoes said the conditions were caused by heavy rains that occurred across Michigan Monday and mean there are vast amounts of water running through the systems.

“Condition C is high flow and a non-emergency,” he said. “The dams are holding up very well.”

DeDoes said the condition means that 3,330 cubic feet of water per second is flowing through the dam. He said Wednesday water rates through the dam were slowing at Mio, but Alcona will be at Condition C for a few days. He said officials did not expect heavy flow amounts such as Mio and Alcona dams to be recorded at other hydro dams further down the river, including Five-Channels Dam, Loud Dam, Cooke Dam or Foote Dam.

DeDoes said although the opened spillway and large amounts of water look dramatic there are no concerns the dams could fail in high water flow conditions.

“It’s a notification process that we do eternally and externally so first responders can be on alert. You can get some flooding downstream and each county has their action plan for what to do under certain circumstances,” he said.

DeDoes said the highest water flow condition is Condition A where there is dam failure or imminent failure of the dam. He said reaching Condition C was not a regular event on Au Sable River hydro dams.

“I think last spring we reached Condition C at Mio (during spring thaws),” he said. “We see it more often on our hydro plants on the west side of the state, and it’s the result of the amount of rain or other sources of water, snowmelt and that sort of thing.”

DeDoes said although there is no danger of the dam failing it is best for the public to stay away from areas where there is high water activity for safety reasons.

Buffy Carr, emergency management coordinator for both Oscoda and Alcona counties, said local law enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard as well as other emergency first responders have coordinated plans in the possible event that one or more of the dams fail.

“The biggest danger is obviously if there is a ‘sunny day’ failure,” she said

This means if a dam failed on a day that wasn’t expected, and there were large amounts of people involved in recreational activities on the river, it could be devastating. She said the worst possible danger to the public would be if the Mio Dam failed as it is expected that a failure there would cause the five other dams to fail on the river as well.

“We just had an exercise on Sept. 22 with that scenario, so essentially the plan is to evacuate along the river itself and to involve the Coast Guard to come upstream to notify people, they actually have inundation maps and a time scale and they reevaluate that, each dam has an emergency action plan for the dam’s failure,” she said.

With this rain event Carr said there has been minimal flooding in areas where flooding occurs nearly every year.

“If anyone has flood damage to their primary residence and doesn’t have flood insurance they should contact their local emergency management coordinator,” she said.

Carr can be reached by calling 826-2397.

Jason Ogden can be reached via email at jogden@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Jason on Twitter @jo_alpenanews.