By Genine Hopkins
Multiple storms have poured rain and damaging winds on Michigan over the past several days and it looks as though we will continue seeing drenching rain for the foreseeable future in our area. Twin tornados touched down in Southwest Michigan as well and several cells were active near the Hemlock area too. But the real culprit in this has been rain, lots of it. It is washing and pitting dirt roads and in Winterfield Township and Leota in Summerfield Township, roads have been breached by these heavy rains. Multiple road closures continue to plague Clare County.
April began with increased rain, but the past weekend through Monday evening saw heavier rain fall leading to the National Weather Service issuing flood watches and/or warnings for a large swath of Michigan including Clare County. These watches and warning kept getting extended each day and the thunderstorms that arrived on Monday evening pushed many culverts and waterways over the edge. Most areas of Clare County received about two to four inches of rain over the past week, with John Gross, a meteorologist with 9&10 News reporting the Gaylord weather station clocked 1.79 inches for the past seven days.
“The current record for the wettest April is 8.25 inches and we are halfway through April and well on our way to break that record,” he told the Clare County Review.
A perfect alignment of several upper and mid level atmospheric patterns that had been pulling moisture from the Gulf created the downpours we have been experiencing, Gross said. He also stated that there were three confirmed tornados that touched down in Michigan; two in the southwest and one that had not yet had the location confirmed prior to this article.
Tuesday morning was when everything reached the breaking point in Clare County. Winterfield Township was one of the hardest hit townships, although road closures were made predominantly around bodies of water. Dave Bondie, of the Clare County Road Commission, said that the road closures were still being added through Wednesday morning. In Winterfield Township, the Clam River, the Whiskey Creek, and the Muskegon Rivers were primarily to blame for the chaos. As they rose with each downfall of rain, the risk grew.
“We are working to accommodate this changing situation and as early as Wednesday we closed some roads,” he said, “As the roads close our crews are also working to fix the issues to alleviate the problem and allow traffic to have access.”
Current road closures as of Wednesday afternoon were:
Partridge Ave between Long Lake Rd and Haskell Lake Rd
Haskell Lake Rd between Partridge Ave and Garfield Ave.
Forest Rd between Twin Lakes Ave and Partridge Ave
Twin Lakes Ave. (Old 61) from M-61 to Stockwell Ave.
Current roads with water over road or other hazards included:
Cranberry Lake Rd east of Bringold
Bringold Ave north of Cranberry Lake Rd
Garfield Ave south of Forest Rd
Garfield Ave south of Haskell Lake Rd
Stockwell Rd between Kirby Ave and Twin Lakes Ave
Wilson Rd east of Harrison Ave
Washington Rd just west of Gladwin County line
Clare County’s Road Commission and Emergency Management teams are continuing to coordinate efforts to identify, close if necessary, and fix issues as needed, although rain remains in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, with thunderstorms forecasted for all day Saturday, April 18, 2026, with potential to further aggravate the problem.
Reports also indicate that the water under the Leota Bridge in Summerfield Township is only about two feet from the bottom of the bridge, with the Clare County Road Commission keeping an eye on that as it develops.
