How the Coast Guard is Trying to Save Houses on a Michigan River

Photos and text by Gary Baumgarten

The Coast Guard cuts through the ice on the St. Clair River just below Port Huron Michigan. Communities along the river and off Lake Huron have been struggling with levels that have risen nearly a foot and this has caused flooding on both the U.S, and Canadian side of the river.

The fear is that the ice jam won’t give water flowing downstream from Lake Huron anyplace to go and that will create even more flooding. That’s why the Coast Guard is cutting pathways in the ice. Not to make navigation possible but to keep the water flowing.

This is one of the docks along the St. Clair River destroyed by the heavy moving ice. This is minor as compared with the flooding that has damaged some homes.

International boundaries matter little when it comes to working together to clear the ice. This Canadian Coast Guard cutter was close to the U.S. shore joining forces with the U.S. Coast Guard to break the ice.

The houses you see beyond this Canadian Guard ship are in Canada. Rising water are also a concerned there, too, in towns like Port Lambton, Ontario.

Ice is piled along the shore of the St. Clair River at Marine City.

The ice loosened by the Coast Guard is up to 16 inches thick.

Another dock destroyed by ice along the St. Clair River downstream from Port Huron.

Concerned locals come out to take a look at the ice piling up and restricting the flow of water from Lake Huron. They are worried about the possibility of more flooding. The area has been battling flooding for several years now because of higher than normal water levels. It’s been so bad that one portion of River Road collapsed under the water and one lane had to be eliminated and the other made into a one-way roadway. And some homes on the river side of the road were relocated to higher ground on the other side of the highway. The good news is, the Army Corps of Engineers is predicting lower water levels this spring and summer. But before that happens they are hoping that through the efforts of the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards they can get through winter with no more flooding.