{"id":2843,"date":"2026-05-25T11:39:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/25\/why-michigan-is-emerging-as-one-of-americas-worst-hit-climate-states\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:39:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:39:47","slug":"why-michigan-is-emerging-as-one-of-americas-worst-hit-climate-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2843","title":{"rendered":"Why Michigan is emerging as one of America\u2019s worst-hit climate states"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"9696ad2d-7a04-4c97-b4c6-39ffd3237b4f\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a person walks past downed trees\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/3e39fa36de3dead9f366725f65abd28545930c90\/0_0_5964_3976\/master\/5964.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A volunteer works to clear debris after a suspected tornado hit the area a day earlier, in Union City, Michigan, on 7 March 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Nam Y Huh\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"9696ad2d-7a04-4c97-b4c6-39ffd3237b4f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A volunteer works to clear debris after a suspected tornado hit the area a day earlier, in Union City, Michigan, on 7 March 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Nam Y Huh\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Why Michigan is emerging as one of America\u2019s worst-hit climate states<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-b3fmmo\">\n<p>The state saw 33 tornadoes last year and severe flooding as researchers say links to climate change are undeniable<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:500\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">T<\/span>he tornado hit west Ann Arbor at 1.45am on 15 April, passing through Veterans Memorial park, where it knocked several mature oak trees and ripped up baseball field fences before setting its sights on a local ice rink.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt came up through the parking lot and, in that time, the pressure differential between the tornado and the air inside the rink collapsed the wall,\u201d said Scott Spooner, a manager at Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe had roughly 60,000 people use the rink last year, between high school hockey, men\u2019s and women\u2019s [and] private leagues. We don\u2019t know what the timeline for reopening is [but] we\u2019re not going to be opening in September. At this point, it\u2019s hard for me to foresee opening next winter at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">This was not the only tornado to create havoc in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/michigan\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Michigan<\/a> this year. In March, communities across nine counties were hit by two rounds of devastating tornadoes that killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, in what was the earliest EF-3 tornado to hit the state in documented history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The state<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/weather\/2026\/04\/michigan-averages-15-tornadoes-a-year-weve-already-had-14-and-its-only-april.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> averages 15 tornadoes<\/a> a year but last year saw 33. This year, it\u2019s already experienced 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The tornado outbreaks follow some of the worst flooding the state has seen in decades. Last month, several Michigan dams and levees were at risk of failure, and an evacuation order was issued in Cheboygan in the north of the state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Florida, California and the mountain west are often held up as US regions worst affected by climate change now and into the future. But recent events suggest parts of the Great Lakes, sometimes referred to as being \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/michigan-is-a-climate-haven-in-a-warming-world-will-everyone-move-here\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">climate proof<\/a>\u201d, are suffering too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) officials<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michiganpublic.org\/weather\/2026-05-14\/in-30-mi-counties-fema-begins-assessment-of-april-tornado-and-flood-damage\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> this month<\/a> find themselves on the ground across 30 Michigan counties, assessing the fallout of the tornadoes and flooding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Fears are now growing that the floods could slow the takeoff of outdoor recreation this spring, an essential local economic driver for thousands of small businesses as campgrounds, trails, equestrian and other facilities across 22 Michigan counties face huge and costly cleanup operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">This year\u2019s flooding and tornadoes appear to be part of a wider trend in a state where severe weather events from past years are still placing huge financial burdens on residents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">This month marks six years since the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams, a pair of privately owned, earthen hydroelectric facilities 100 miles north-east of Grand Rapids. The dam collapses were the result of about 8in of rainfall and saw 10,000 people evacuated and 2,500 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed at an estimated cost of $175m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe were in the process of getting boats and watercraft drug up to safety; the water was five to six feet higher than it had ever been,\u201d said Lynn Coleman, who filmed the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> terrifying footage of the Edenville dam\u2019s collapse<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe water trickled out the backside of the dike. It took an hour and 42 minutes for the lake to completely drain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Coleman, who runs the<a href=\"https:\/\/wixomwaters.com\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> Wixom Waters campground<\/a> a stone\u2019s throw from the Edenville dam, has since faced financial challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe run a campground that\u2019s based on water [activities] \u2026 the business has lost an average of $35,000 a year. Now, with the rebuild [of the dam], we\u2019re hit with just under $30,000 a year in lake assessment [fees] and that goes for the next 40 years.\u201d The cost of rebuilding the Edenville and three other dams that failed in the flooding is estimated at almost $400m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Residents have also been dealing with the<a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/2026\/04\/24\/judge-dismisses-suit-seeking-to-hold-state-liable-for-edenville-dam-failure\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> dismissal<\/a> last month of a lawsuit they had brought against the state of Michigan. The case claimed the state failed to act on repeated safety warnings that the dam was at risk due to allowing its owner, Boyce Hydro Power, to raise water levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Michigan\u2019s newfound susceptibility to extreme weather is down to a few factors, experts say, noting that in the spring, the state often finds itself caught in the transition boundary of the jet stream between warm, moist air from the south and cold, dry air from Canada. This spring, it\u2019s been unusually active.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWhen you have warm, moist air that clashes with dry air, you get a very sharp boundary in temperatures that will cause severe weather. And that\u2019s what we\u2019ve seen,\u201d says Lisa DeChano-Cook, a professor at Western Michigan University\u2019s school of environment, geography and sustainability.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe also have a strong temperature contrast between the Great Lakes water temperatures and the Gulf moisture. More precipitation can come down, and we can have more extreme outcomes. That\u2019s some level of what we saw with the Edenville dam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last year, a freezing rain storm<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/apr\/29\/michigan-ice-storm-natural-disaster\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> destroyed millions of acres of trees<\/a> in northern parts of Michigan\u2019s lower peninsula, rendering hundreds of miles of electricity and utility infrastructure useless and cutting power for weeks to thousands of people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The cost of that \u2013 hundreds of millions of dollars \u2013 has created political ructions for leaders and utility customers that, as with Edenville residents, are set to continue for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But not everyone is certain that climate change is solely responsible for the extreme weather events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s very possible [that climate change played a role]. Events seem to be getting worse and I\u2019m not sure that they are. There have been severe weather events across the state ever since I can remember,\u201d said Coleman in Edenville.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cDo I think that we need to take care of issues such as climate change? Absolutely. Do I blame it all on that? I\u2019m not a scientist so I can\u2019t really say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Researchers, however, say the links are undeniable. The number of billion-dollar disaster events in the US adjusted for inflation rose from 33 in the 1980s to 198 in the decade to 2024,<a href=\"https:\/\/usafacts.org\/articles\/are-the-number-of-major-natural-disasters-increasing\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> according to<\/a> the National Centers for Environmental Information, a government agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily new, and yet I think it is linked to climate change,\u201d said DeChano-Cook of the severe weather facing the state. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing this waviness in the jet stream much more often in the spring and the fall than we used to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Warmer temperatures in the Arctic<a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1748-9326\/10\/1\/014005\/meta\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> weaken the polar jet stream<\/a>, which in turn can cause it to bend more to the north and south. For the Great Lakes region and southern Canada, that can lead to more extreme weather events across a larger area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Back in Ann Arbor, local authorities have found themselves preparing for the upcoming summer season while having to deal with the aftermath of the tornado damage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">With a public pool situated next to the damaged Veterans Memorial ice rink, city authorities have decided to hold off on construction work on the rink building in order to open the pool as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe don\u2019t want to have a construction site next to the pool,\u201d said Spooner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Residents\u2019 access to city-owned ice rinks will be cut in half next season, since this is one of just two.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While he couldn\u2019t put a dollar cost on what the closure will probably set the City back, Spooner says it\u2019s about more than just money.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThere\u2019s a revenue hit,\u201d he said, \u201cand a social hit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/michigan\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Michigan<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/environment\/climate-crisis\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Climate crisis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/tornadoes\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Tornadoes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Why%20Michigan%20is%20emerging%20as%20one%20of%20America%E2%80%99s%20worst-hit%20climate%20states&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/25\/michigan-climate-crisis?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F25%2Fmichigan-climate-crisis&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/25\/michigan-climate-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A volunteer works to clear debris after a suspected tornado hit the area a day earlier, in Union<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}