NEWS RELEASE
SAULT STE. MARIE
POLICE SERVICE
*************************
Police Services responded with the Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services to the Cottage Lane area at the south end of Leigh’s Bay Road just after 6 p.m.
Thursday evening for calls from homeowners regarding extreme flooding coming from Lake Superior.
Several homes were evacuated and power shut off as the high waters threatened residences there.
The US Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed a sieche effect had caused a sudden surge in water levels which at one point changed levels in the area to from a drop of – 14 inches to an increase of +51 inches.
A seiche is a naturally occurring phenomenon that when combined with dramatic changes in atmospheric pressure or a sudden drop in the wind speed produces a water surge.
Residents were returned to their homes at approximately 7:15 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
*************************
(PHOTO: A reader sent us the above photo of firefighters responding to last night's flooding in the Cottage Lane area.)