1986 flood website preserves history and prepares for future floods

Extreme floods are a rare occurrence in Michigan, but when they hit, they can cause catastrophic impacts. Preparing for severe weather events is integral for the purposes of safety and avoiding financial devastation. 

The 1986flood.com website uses personal accounts and images from those who endured the severe Saginaw Bay area flood in 1986 to educate Michiganders on the consequences that can floods can produce. This website is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and created by the Michigan Seagrant Extension Program.

“One of our hopes is that with these tools and sharing these stories that communities will understand the risk associated with extreme storms, find the tools that are available to them for planning purposes and that they will put it into their planning processes or ordinances,” said Kip Cronk, education extension educator of the Michigan Seagrant Extension Program.

The Michigan Seagrant Extension Program applies different techniques to educate and prepare the public for potential flood disasters. This program is a joint program between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Michigan State University Extension.

The Great Flood of 1986 in Michigan stands to be one of the greatest natural disasters in the state’s history, resulting in ten deaths and damages of over $505 million – equating to over one billion dollars in damage to today’s standards.

The photos and stories shared from the 1986 flood survivors on the website implements a unique way of preserving history and increasing awareness of extreme storm risks.

“These are personal stories – they aren’t coming from the government, they’re not coming from universities. These are people sharing their own stories and how this storm impacted them,” said Cronk. “I think it’s a great way to get people to realize the consequences of the storm.”

The website intends to create stronger “community resiliency” with these tools through increasing awareness of the risks of extreme floods to not only citizens, but to stakeholders in the community.

“The stakeholders are elected officials that really can make a change right now in their communities by implementing regulations or planning zoning ordinances,” said Cronk. “The website is aimed at those stakeholders, to educate about the storms and the reality of them.”

Cronk says the biggest misconception about extreme floods that he encounters is the belief that enduring such a weather event “won’t happen” to someone because of the small likelihood. According to Cronk, this leaves a large population vulnerable, ranging from individual landowners to the government.

“Making changes does cost communities and homeowners to make the proper changes,” said Cronk. “Hopefully, we can work with them to give them tools to make the planning process a little bit easier and to understand positive changes they can make in their communities.”

The flood website is a part of the Michigan Seagrant Extension Program’s coastal storm project. The project is reported to be half-way done, with the likelihood of a request for a six-month grant extension.

“The impacts of floods are real in Michigan,” said Cronk. “They do happen and it’s more than likely they’re going to happen again.”