Campus Alert Archive
Northwood

Edenville Dam Collapses Upstream: 30 Billion Gallons Flood Northwood University, Campus Under Eight Feet of Water

MIfloodingemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the evening of May 19, 2020, the Edenville Dam failed after heavy rains overwhelmed its spillway capacity, sending a catastrophic flood surge down the Tittabawassee River toward Midland, Michigan. Northwood University officials received a warning at 5:00 PM that they had four hours to evacuate; 25 remaining students relocated to a hotel before floodwaters inundated up to eight feet of water across campus buildings, causing more than $17 million in damage and potentially making Northwood the most damaged institutional structure in Michigan's worst flood in a century.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Northwood University
Private Bachelors · MI
~1,600 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPhone
Approximate reconstruction486 chars
Northwood University is issuing an emergency evacuation order. We have been notified by Midland County Emergency Management that Edenville Dam has failed and catastrophic flooding is expected to reach the Midland area within approximately four hours. All students, faculty, and staff must evacuate the campus immediately. Take essential belongings only. Do not return to campus until further notice. Emergency shelter information will be provided by Midland County. This is not a drill.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Northwood officials confirmed they received a 5:00 PM EDT warning giving them four hours to prepare the campus and evacuate, per Detroit News reporting
The four-hour window allowed all 25 remaining students (campus had been largely emptied due to COVID-19 shutdowns) to relocate to a hotel before the flood arrived
The Edenville Dam failure was confirmed by Midland County Emergency Management; the dam failed at 5:46 PM EDT on May 19, 2020
UPDATEWebsite
Approximate reconstruction476 chars
Northwood University campus has been evacuated and is inaccessible due to catastrophic flooding from the Edenville and Sanford dam failures. Floodwaters have inundated campus buildings including Miner Hall, Strosacker Library, Jordan Hall, and the Griswold Communications Center. Do not attempt to access campus. The Midland area remains under a mandatory evacuation order. We will provide updates as the situation develops. Our priority is the safety of our campus community.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Buildings confirmed flood-damaged by Detroit News: Miner Hall (2-8 feet of water in various sections), Strosacker Library (including classrooms), Jordan Hall, and Griswold Communications Center
Approximately 30 billion gallons of water inundated the Northwood campus from the dam failures, per Northwood University's own reconstruction reporting
Campus had reduced population due to COVID-19 pandemic; most students were already off campus for spring semester remote instruction, which significantly reduced the evacuation challenge
FOLLOW-UPWebsite
Approximate reconstruction519 chars
Northwood University campus sustained significant damage from the historic 500-year flooding caused by the Edenville and Sanford dam failures. Initial damage assessments indicate more than $17 million in losses. The campus remains closed and inaccessible. All summer courses will be conducted online. We are grateful that all members of the Northwood community are safe. The university vows to rebuild and will provide updates on the path forward. The Midland community is in our thoughts as we begin the long recovery.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The $17 million damage figure was confirmed by Northwood University officials in Detroit News coverage from May 21, 2020
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer described the flooding as a 500-year event; the Midland area had been under pandemic restrictions, which shaped the evacuation context
Northwood's Core Crisis Team of more than 20 members had activated upon the 5 PM warning, working to move critical documents to higher floors before evacuation was complete
Context

Background

The Edenville Dam failure on May 19, 2020 was the culmination of years of regulatory neglect: FERC had revoked the dam's power-generation license in 2018 after its owners repeatedly refused to increase spillway capacity as required. When several days of heavy rainfall overwhelmed the dam on May 19, the east embankment gave way at 5:46 PM EDT, releasing a flood wave that overtopped the downstream Sanford Dam before inundating Midland, Michigan. Over 11,000 residents were evacuated and 2,500 structures damaged with no fatalities -- a result attributable to a cautious early evacuation decision made 18 hours before the dams actually failed. Northwood University, a private business university on the banks of the Tittabawassee River in Midland, received a 5:00 PM warning from Midland County Emergency Management and mobilized its Core Crisis Team immediately. The university's Core Crisis Team of more than 20 members spent the next three hours moving documents and computers to higher floors, and the remaining 25 on-campus students were relocated to a hotel. By 8:00 PM, the campus was shut down. When the flood crested, up to eight feet of water filled campus buildings, including Miner Hall, Strosacker Library, Jordan Hall, and the Griswold Communications Center. Northwood sustained more than $17 million in damages and officials acknowledged the small university may have been the most heavily damaged institution in the region. The pandemic's forced campus depopulation -- most students had already gone home for remote spring instruction -- meant only 25 students needed evacuation, likely preventing a far more complex emergency. The university subsequently undertook extensive reconstruction, reopening renovated facilities over the following two years.
Analysis

Key Findings

Northwood University received only a four-hour warning before Edenville Dam floodwaters reached campus, yet successfully evacuated all 25 remaining students to a hotel
COVID-19 pandemic depopulation of campus proved unintentionally life-saving: most students were already off-campus for remote instruction, dramatically simplifying the evacuation
More than $17 million in flood damage made Northwood potentially the most heavily damaged institutional structure in Michigan's 500-year flood event
FERC had revoked Edenville Dam's license in 2018 for failure to expand spillway capacity -- the 2020 failure was a foreseeable consequence of deferred regulatory compliance
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Midland's Northwood University vows to rebuild after 500-year flood - Detroit News
    detroitnews.com
  2. News
    Northwood Campus and Midland Area Evacuated After Dam Break - Aftermarket News
    aftermarketnews.com
  3. Source
    Edenville Dam - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  4. Report
    Michigan Dam Incident Response Review - FEMA
    fema.gov
  5. News
    Northwood University evacuates Midland campus due to area flooding - WXYZ Detroit
    wxyz.com
Tags
floodingdam-failureevacuationedenville-dammichigantittabawassee-riverprivate-bachelorscovid-19500-year-floodmidlandcampus-closure
Added June 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion