Michigan Community Came to the Rescue After This Flood and Mudslide Disaster

Over Father’s Day weekend, 2018, a flash flood drenched Upper Michigan in several inches of rain. Houghton County was hit hardest. Heavy, widespread rain ranging from three to almost seven inches were recorded, with the heaviest falling between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. A number of homes and businesses were destroyed or sustained major damages. But few towns were impacted as significantly as Ripley.

Ripley is home to around 100 people as well as Mont Ripley, the oldest ski area in Michigan. It’s buffeted by the Keweenaw Waterway, which separates Copper Island — where Ripley is located — from the mainland. The torrential rainfall caused the Keweenaw to flood which washed out roadways, and damaged or destroyed properties throughout the town. The rain also triggered a mudslide on Mont Ripley that tore through several people’s homes, including Cynthia Drake’s.

Drake told weather.com that she was initially excited about the rain moving into the area. It had been a dry season, and the community was hoping for some relief.

“We all needed rain, so when the rain started it was just, like, awesome,” said Drake.

She had been planning to sleep out in a tent in her backyard that night, but when the rain started, her youngest daughter convinced her to move inside. Neighbors would later find pieces of her tent down by the Keweenaw Waterway.

In the middle of the night, her daughter came into her room because she was scared by the sounds of the storm. They went back to sleep for a bit, but the storm got so loud that they decided to get up and see if any windows needed shutting. When Drake went to head downstairs, she was shocked by what she saw.

“I got up, and we went to the stairwell, and there was water rising in the stairwell,” she said. “Then I looked out the window and saw my sauna, from my backyard was in front of the house, and it was all flooded. On both sides of my house was water.”

The Ripley Creek runs by Drake’s house, and also somewhat underground, possibly due to defunct mining tunnels. So when the mudslide hit, the already swelling underground creek broke through to the surface.

“When all the debris came through there from the mudslide, like trees and everything that came through, it broke [the underground creek] open in a spot so it kind of geysered out,” Drake explained.

When a neighbor heard about what happened to her house, he immediately enlisted a local sports team to help move everything out of the flooded areas.

“They just started hauling stuff out of my house, knocking it out the windows with scoops and buckets, just literally shoveling everything out of the first floor and basement,” said Drake. “They rescued the house, because if they hadn't acted so quickly, I'd have had mold and all sorts of things.”

More neighbors came by to help over the next several days, many of whom were strangers to Drake. She was in shock most of that first day after the storm, and seeing what she describes as hundreds of people coming in and out of her house was jarring.

Ultimately, however, she was overcome with appreciation for her neighbors who did not hesitate to roll up their sleeves and rescue her home.

“The community responded before any national organizations came. Everyone just pitched in, and it was just like this feeling of like, oh, this is what we can do for each other, you know? It was so amazing. I can't say enough about the community and the support. I'll never forget that feeling of just how loving people can be.”

According to Drake, even the disaster response teams that came in to help commented on the incredible community response. It was an astonishing effort of humanity that Drake won’t soon forget.

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