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(WWJ/AP) It's a different kind of rescue effort, still ongoing months after disastrous flooding in Mid Michigan.
The Historical Society of Michigan is expected to present donations to two Midland County organizations damaged by flood waters due to dam failures along the Tittabawassee River.
Checks of just over $5,000 will be presented Thursday to the Midland County Historical Society and the Sanford Area Historical Society, which operates the Sanford Centennial Museum.
The funds were raised by contributions through an online effort sponsored and promoted by the statewide Historical Society of Michigan and direct donations to the nonprofit organization.
The Edenville dam failed during a steady rain in May, draining Wixom Lake and unleashing the Tittabawassee River, which then overwhelmed the Sanford dam, about 140 miles north of Detroit.
Because they knew there would be at least some flooding, the staff at the Midland Center for the Arts tried to "over prepare," said Terri Trotter, President & CEO. "Things were pulled out of basements, things were put up. The challenge is, with the dams breaking, the water level was so much higher than anyone had predicted."
"Even though those preparations helped," Trotter said, "they didn't keep us from getting damaged."
The Midland County Historical Society and museums at Heritage Park are currently not open to the public due to flood damages to the facilities.
Crystal Laudeman, an archivist with the Midland County Historical Society, said that during emergency operations immediately following the flood, the society evacuated all collections that were not ruined by flood waters.
Volunteers came together to help move the collections into storage in secure areas within the Midland Center for the Art building. Laudeman said the ongoing recovery efforts would be a long process.