TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Last week’s heavy rains caused more problems for residents on Eagle Lake, said homeowner Jim Hollenbeck. Some parts of the county received as much as four inches of rain.
“It’s been real frustrating,” Hollenbeck said during an interview with FOX 17. “The rain last week was terrible. It flooded the road. It flooded back into several of the houses.”
Township said the water was so overwhelming that they decided to temporarily shut off its pumps because the Portage River, where the excess water was going into, was too high.
“There was a lot of crying you know definitely anger,” Hollenbeck said. “But I think everybody now is kind of almost over the anger. It’s more of a frustration.”
Hollenbeck said they’ve been hauling more dirt to try and keep the water out of there homes. Friday, he and neighbors were running their pumps nonstop.
“Last week when it rained, you’re up almost the entire night,” Hollenbeck said. “I’m up at 3 o’clock. You’re fixing pumps. You’re going to Menards at 5 o’clock in the morning and you’re doing the best you can to keep ahead of it.”
Hollenbeck said the floods have gotten so bad lately that they’ve had to raise part of their road again. He said county trucks recently dumped large amounts of gravel onto the road for them.
In the meantime, township officials turned the pumps back on yesterday, he said. However with the sun out Thursday and the next few days, he hopes that t'll help dry up some of the floods.
“We just need like three more months of it,” he laughed. “But three days you know is better than none.”
