Red Cross shelters residents displaced by flooding in Mount Pleasant
Local 2-1-1 emergency services report that nearly 120 people in Isabella County have been displaced from their homes due to flooding.
The American Red Cross of Mid-Michigan set up a shelter at Mount Pleasant High School for residents of the city who have been displaced by flooding caused by heavy thunderstorms on Friday, June 23.
Victoria Jackson had only been living in Mount Pleasant for five days before the flooding began. She had previously lived in Saginaw, but was displaced after a freak accident caused part of her house to cave in.
She and her four children had been staying with Jackson's father, who lived in the bottom floor of the F Complex of Park Place Apartments. At the time Jackson and her children had moved into the Red Cross shelter, her father was still trying to salvage his belongings from his flooded apartment.
Jackson recalled the scene in the parking lot of Park Place Apartments when the flooding started.
"The rain started off really light around 11 (p.m.), but by 1 (a.m.), cars and garbage cans were floating on their own throughout the complex," Jackson said. "People were out knocking on doors, trying to make sure everyone was safe and that they houses weren't flooding too much. Everyone was trying to help, it was a great community."
The majority of people displaced from the flood lived in Park Place Apartments and Timber Creek Apartments, said Red Cross representative Cindy Havens.
"It's hard to tell how many people will show up at the shelter," Havens said. "You have to be prepared for 50 or 100 people. Sometimes you only get 10 or 20 percent of the people displaced."
Residents of the shelter are provided with sleeping cots and meals, and are given access to resources that can help them find a more permanent place to live.
"Thank God for Red Cross for being willing to help with situations like this. This is an emergency," Jackson said.
For more information, residents affected by flooding are encouraged to call 211.
