USA: When the '500-year flood' hit Michigan, residents had to weigh risk of escape in a pandemic

By Carol Thompson

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The coronavirus pandemic complicated the response to the disastrous flood that swallowed a series of small communities in mid-Michigan on 19 May. An ageing dam broke under the strain of another heavy rainfall during a long season of wet weather, causing a calamity officials call a “500-year flood” and one that appears more likely to become common on a planet in the grip of global heating.

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First responders had to keep a safe distance when going door-to-door ordering 11,000 people to evacuate. Flooded nursing homes sent residents into shelters, where Covid-19 could spread. The Midland hospital sent its ventilated Covid-19 patients to nearby hospitals in case the flood was worse than predicted.

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Volunteers armed with disinfectant paced around an emergency shelter in the basement of Midland high school on Wednesday night, disinfecting doorknobs and faucet handles and offering squirts of hand sanitizer to evacuees, many of whom are residents of a downtown Midland nursing home hit hard by the flood.

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Officials had to find enough masks for the hundreds of people who visited to shower, eat and sleep. They stationed cots 6ft apart. They turned away enthusiastic volunteers to limit the number of people, and potential coronavirus, inside.

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