News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Water pours through one of the spillways at the Ninth Street Dam in Alpena on Wednesday. On Tuesday, several dams gave way in the Midland area causing severe flooding. Alpena County Emergency Services Coordinator Mark Hall said there are three dams in the country and all necessary plans and precautions need to be made to help prevent the same from happening.

ALPENA — After seeing the failure of several dams in and near Midland County Tuesday, which caused severe flooding downstream from them, Alpena County Emergency Services Coordinator Mark Hall addressed the issue with the county finance committee on Wednesday.

Hall said the scenario that played out on the Tittabawassee River is something the county should take as a wake-up call and direct more focus on the dams and emergency response planning moving forward.

“We don’t think about these things very much, and lull ourselves into thinking these things can’t happen to us in our community,” Hall said. “Those things missed us by about 75 to 100 miles, which isn’t that far. That’s how close the water got to us.”

Thousands of people in the center of the state were forced to evacuate, as the flood water barreled downstream flooding communities in its path. Hall said there was a cascading effect that led from the first dam giving way, to the others doing the same. On Tuesday night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the City of Midland could amass as much as nine feet of water in its downtown.

Hall said there are three hydroelectric dams in Alpena County and people shouldn’t assume the same type of situation could never happen here. The three dams in Alpena include the Seven Mile Dam and the Four Mile Dam on Long Rapids Road, and the Ninth Street Dam in Alpena.

“These things can happen and obviously, we need to be prepared to mitigate and reduce those risks,” Hall said. “We can’t do anything about the weather, but this has sure woken me up.”

Hall said hydroelectric dams are required to be inspected and graded every three to five years. Only being on the job for a handful of months, He said he is still learning dams, and the plans that are in place, should we have one or more of them breached. He isn’t sure the last time the dams in the county were inspected.

Hall said after what transpired in Midland County, he expects there will be nationwide attention on the issue of dams and what needs to be done to them to protect the public.

“Just as the pandemic brought attention to the need to review our plans, I think this will cause a review of the management of dams too,” he said. “I’m not trying to create fear, but to remind people that we live in a river community and we have dams in our backyards. God forbid something like what happened to us happens to us, but people need to be mindful of where we live and if there is a call for an evacuation, that people take it seriously.”