Major flash flooding struck the Houghton area on Saturday night, July 16th,
with a storm that dropped close to 7 inches of rain.
The hotel lost power for a couple of hours, but that was nothing compared to
the destruction going on around us. Our first glimpse was the man
shoveling mud from the parking lot next to the hotel.
This was a perfectly fine road the day before. It's in downtown Houghton, just a
couple blocks from our hotel.
Elm street cafe patio suffered a sinkhole, one of over 60 that appeared.
mud on the sidewalk that had been clear just a day ago.
rocks tumbled in the road from the rushing waters. This is across the bridge
in Hancock.
there was a long row of homes cut off by this suddenly open drainage ditch.
This is some of the long way around we had to drive to get from the hotel in
Houghton to the seaplane dock in Hancock.
Route 26 (Royce Rd) in Hancock near the seaplane dock.
This was a nice front yard lawn a few days earlier.
What this yard looked like before, according to Google Maps terrain view.
another 'before' view.
a couple blocks farther down, yet another washed-out road
Water pressure must have pushed up these bubbles.
part of the road lifted and slid over the lower part.
Agate Road, walking distance of our hotel, closer to the university.
Tuesday evening, Margie, Kitty, and I decided to see if we could get
to the town of Hubbell. It had been 3 days, so we thought we had a
chance. And indeed, we were able to get through.
