PODCAST:
April 15, 2026 ~ Chris Renwick and Lloyd Jackson spoke with Beth LeBlanc, a Detroit News reporter. She discussed evacuations in northern Michigan due to a levee break and concerns about aging infrastructure at the Cheboygan Dam.
MICHIGAN ~ Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Tuesday that her previous activation of the State Emergency Operations Center will be extended statewide amid heavy rainfall and flooding concerns across Michigan.
“With already high water levels across the state and more rain in the forecast over the next few days, we are proactively extending our activation of the State Emergency Operations Center,” Whitmer said in a statement to the media. “This will ensure work continues around the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex to increase pumping capacity and place sandbags, but it also helps us deploy additional supplies to other areas of the state that may be at risk of flooding. We will keep monitoring the situation and supporting local communities with the resources they need to keep people safe.”
This comes amid ongoing flooding and dam failure fears in the Northern Michigan town of Cheboygan, with the area bracing for a possible failure of the Cheboygan Dam amid rising water levels of the Cheboygan River. However, a separate levee in the nearby Little Black River Watershed broke, causing evacuation orders for residents west of the Cheyboygan River.
Strong winds in the Ann Arbor and Downriver areas have triggered investigations into whether tornadoes touched down in the area.
