News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The former Cellar Restaurant on the Thunder Bay River in Alpena has been under the threat of flooding for several months. As seen in this recent photo, water continues to wash against sandbags the owner has placed to try to protect his property.

ALPENA — Having your town and city located on the shores of the Great Lakes or other bodies of water has its benefits, but one drawback shoreline residents are beginning to see with record-high water is the threat of flooding.

Homes and businesses close to water also pay added insurance costs and other expenses to have the buildings removed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s floodplain maps.

Removal from those maps can save money on insurance and on construction at those properties.

In Alpena, Lake Huron is at an all-time high level, as is the Thunder Bay River, which runs through the middle of the downtown and near several neighborhoods.

The current flood maps were drawn up at a time when those waters were near all-time lows.

Though there has been little more than minor flooding to this point, it is fair to ask what the impact will be for commerce, homes, natural resources, and public safety if the water rise continues.

Alpena Emergency Services Coordinator Mark Hall said his office has maps that depict the floodplains, as well as flood projections and response plans for a major flooding event.

Hall said that, each day, he stops at key points along the Thunder Bay River to measure any changes in the water level. He said water remains very high, especially near the mouth of the river where it meets Lake Huron, as well as near the 2nd Avenue bridge, where some businesses are already dealing with flooding issues.

Hall said heavy ice thaw and rain have increased the volume of water in Alpena. He said one of his main concerns is damage to property when water is pushed upstream from Thunder Bay into the river, where it meets water released from the 9th Avenue dam. That causes a sudden increase in water levels and minor shoreline flooding.

That phenomenon is called a seiche, caused by wind and tides forcing water into tight quarters. A sloshing effect takes place, which often causes water to overspill its banks. Often, the water subsides as quickly as it rises.

There have been several recent instances of seiche in and around the harbor in Alpena, which has caused minor flooding of the sidewalks, street, and lawn near the Alpena Yacht Club.

Many shoreline communities are experiencing the same issues, Hall said, and some are seeing much worse. In Alpena, he is closely watching water levels and, although they are elevated, there isn’t a significant risk of a major flooding event, he said.

If that changes, however, he said Alpena County is prepared to respond.

“I attribute this to the high lake levels and the first level of dams in Alpena County,” he said. “They determine how much water dumps in and where that water goes,” he said. “I’m monitoring this, but I also believe nothing serious would happen so quickly that there would be lives put in danger or major property loss.

“Everybody needs to understand, though, that there is nothing we can do to avoid a large influx of water, if it happens,” he added. “But we can be situationally aware of what’s going on and how to respond.”

8-YEAR-OLD FLOOD MAPS

The area’s latest floodplain maps were made by a firm called FLAME in 2011, at the same time when water levels in the Great Lakes were dropping and eventually reached near-record lows in 2013. The current maps classify Alpena as “Zone-X,” an area of minimal chance of flooding.

According to FEMA, Zone X communities are within the 0.2% annual-chance floodplain, areas of 1% annual-chance flooding where average depths are less than 1 foot, areas of 1% annual-chance flooding where the contributing drainage area is less than 1 square mile, and areas protected from the 1% annual-chance flood by a levee.

In other words, the likelihood of such areas seeing significant and damaging flooding are 1% or lower each year.

At least, that was the case back in 2011.

According to the FEMA website, updates to flood maps are beginning, but it could be several years before they are completed.

Until then, emergency services teams, insurance companies, and property owners must rely on the old information.

Water is not the only risk, Lappan Insurance co-owner Steve Lappan said.

“Then you have the matter of ice, and what kind of damage can it do?” Lappan said.

AREAS AT RISK

As of now, FEMA considers only select places in the city at risk of flooding of up to a foot in depth, which, according to Hall, would cause significant damage.

Places at risk include:

Carter and River streets, near the Holiday Inn Express and Suites,

River Street, stretching to Chisholm between 3rd and 9th avenues, and

a large section of Oldfield Street, which stretches out nearly to Miller Street.

A portion of the Island View subdivision is also included as one of the more vulnerable areas in the city.

Because of the flood threat, no matter how slim, many mortgage companies require people in those areas to have flood insurance. That is sometimes an added expense people don’t anticipate.

Lappan said most insurance companies offer flood insurance as a separate policy above and beyond normal homeowner insurance.

“Most insurance companies work off of these maps and most policies exclude flood damage, so it really isn’t a bad thing to have, especially if you are in an area where you think flooding and water damage could be an issue,” Lappan said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide information on the latest forecast of water levels for the Great Lakes on Tuesday. It will provide updated information about the possibility of erosion caused by higher water levels into next spring.

The 2019 spring and summer seasons have experienced record high water levels and water levels are likely to remain significantly above average during the upcoming fall and winter seasons, a press release from the Army Corps said.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.