PORTLAND, Mich. — The City of Portland has reopened some main roads after rising water levels caused flooding over the weekend. Residents who live near the river said they experienced flooding in their basements. They also said this flooding happens almost every year.
Compared to the flood damage Portland experienced in 2019, there was minor damage from the flooding that occurred this past weekend. Residents said when they experience disasters, everyone comes together to help each other.
“Everybody just pitches right in when we need the help and it's just such a blessing to live here in Portland,” Susie Smith said.
Linda Miller said in previous years, she has had some losses to her property along the river, but this year, she’s thankful she was prepared and there was no damage.
“I didn't have anything destroyed or ruined anything because I live here, so I was on top of it,” Miller said. I expected it and didn't have anything destroyed but I have in the past and I’ve lost furnaces and different things.”
City manager Tutt Gorman said the community continues to come together to support each other and said it's why the community has gotten through yearly flooding.
“It really wasn’t a whole lot of damage compared to 2019, but this community has always done a remarkable job as far as coming together whenever anyone's in need; that can be from your local businesses to your local residences,” Gorman said. We have a substantial amount of local nonprofits and the community is fun it is really a great community.”
Smith has been a Portland resident for decades and said this is the first time she has seen this much ice accumulation along the river, which hits so close to home.
“I’ve had several people call me this last weekend to see if we were okay and I said we are fine, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen that ice buildup on the edge of the river like this since I’ve been down here,” Smith said.
The warmer weather helped to melt some of the ice away, but Miller said it didn’t happen soon enough.
“Maybe if we could break the ice up a little sooner and get it moving but when it's that cold, that's hard to do, too, so when the warm weather comes in, it's got to melt, it's got to go somewhere,” Miller said.
Gorman said local officials and the National Weather Service helped to inform residents of the area flooding as soon as possible, and despite minor flooding to residents and local businesses, everyone was okay.
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