Weekend rains leave impact

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L’ANSE WASHOUT–Heavy rain last weekend led to the washout of Lambert Road, and downstream from that, the railroad grade, above, along U.S. 41 Sunday morning. Although there is scattered washout and culvert damage around the area, Baraga County escaped the many millions of dollars of damage when entire streets were destroyed in Houghton, Hancock, Lake Linden, etc.

by Barry Drue
Baraga County Road Commission crews continued to assess flood damage Monday morning following periods of heavy rain over the weekend, and particularly early Sunday morning, June 17, 2018. “We have lots of small stuff,” Road Engineer Doug Mills said. “The largest we know of was Lambert Road which washed out Sunday morning, and then it took out the railroad (along U.S. 41 near Erickson Lumber). As far as rainfall amounts, “Different areas got hit differently,” Mills said, noting that three to four inches was probably an average amount in parts of Baraga County. “it was nothing like the six to eight inches in Houghton and Hancock. They got an epic flood like the one we got in 1968. It’s not millions of dollars in damage, it’s tens of millions there.” Mills said There were washouts on Tervo Road near Kelsey Creek in Keweenaw Bay, a partial washout on Prickett Dam Road, a two-mile segment of Menge Creek Road adjacent to a logging job has been close, and Shrine Road has washouts. “The Sturgeon River is up. The usual roads and low spots are flooded. We’ll have to wait for the water to go down to assess that,” Mills added. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.