Midland has been devasted by historic flooding causing at least two dams to fail. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a State of Emergency for Midland County to allow a swift response for relief efforts.

Was this a disaster waiting to happen? It may take time to get that answer. What we do know is that in 2018 Federal regulators revoked the hydro-power generating license for the now collapsed Edenville Dam that borders Midland and Gladwin counties. Regulators cited years of failure by the dam's owners to address safety problems, with the biggest concern being the dam's ability to withstand a major flood.

Photographer Tim Wenzel lives in the Midland area and is also a drone operator. Yesterday morning he captured footage of the Edenville Dam already at flood stage and looking rather ominous. See the first video below.

I strongly felt it was going to breach so I wanted to get some last shots of the lake before it was gone forever ~Tim Wenzel

Less than 24 hours later his fears were realized and Wixom Lake and everything in the area was completely swallowed up. Here is the footage he captured this morning following the Edenville Dam collapse.

Residents living along the area rushed to evacuate after the breaches. Multiple shelters have been opened for evacuees in the area. Downtown Midland could be under feet of water before the end of the week.

Assigning blame will not help the situation but it is known that the state of Michigan has other dams in disrepair. Will we see similar failures in the future?

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