HAMBURG TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Officials are still dealing with contamination concerns in Hamburg Township after a sewage leak over the weekend.
It happened Sunday around 9:45 a.m. in a neighborhood off Ore Lake near Mohican Dr. and Branch Dr. Neighbors say the sewage discharge followed some substantial flooding after days of rain.
VIDEO EXTRA: Chopper 7 video shows flooding around homes at Ore Lake
"I think it was toward the end of last week with the remnants of the hurricane that came through. So we ended up with about 4 and a half inches of rain in a very short period of time," said Sean Hurwitz who lives in the area. "Everyone loves the lake so much that we deal with it."
Tuesday, several front lawns resembled ponds with standing water persisting. Residents say it's something they see a few times a year.
"We bought this cottage in May of '22 and the first year was fine, next year was fine and then last August we had a bad flood. In January we had a bad flood," said Mark Tenbrink as he stood in front of his water-covered property.
To add insult to injury, early Tuesday morning another storm knocked out power to residents in the area.
"Sewage, flooding, lost electricity but I still got my hot water for my hot coffee because we have an RV over there. So we’re fortunate," said Denise Tenbrink as she stood next to her husband.
Officials contained the Sunday sewage leak within hours of it happening, placing sandbags around the manhole they say was to blame.
The township has since halted all water activity on Ore Lake and Little Ore Lake as they work to learn how much sewage leached into the water. Crews took water samples Monday and Tuesday testing for things like E. Coli. At last check, they were still awaiting results.
"A lot of us feel like we basically live on an island because we have water all around our house which is a challenge and emotional strain," said Dr. Amber Bismack who also lives in the area. "Not only is it difficult to actually get out of your house and have to trudge through flood water just to get to your car, to go get groceries, pick up my kids, all those things. Now we have to deal with the fact that we actually can’t touch the water because there’s sewage in it."
Bismack is also a part of the organization Residents Working Against Huron River Flooding. She says the group has been working for the past 4 years to mitigate flooding there.
"We actually have two creeks that flow in: S. Ore Creek and Dibrova Creek and they all flow literally to a point and we are right at that point and then we flow out to the Huron River," said Bismack. "The challenge is when the water is really high, we can’t flow out. The water is still pouring into us and it just fills up like a bowl."
VIDEO EXTRA: 'Bad luck situation.' Hear more from Dr. Amber Bismack about the flooding and sewage leak
Bismack says the organization is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on possible solutions like retention ponds and elevating homes to combat flooding.
Bismack says they’re hopeful to see fewer incidents like this in the future.
"This honestly was just a bad luck situation that happened to happen at the same time we had the flooding," she said.
