NewsWest 9
The work is on in Midland County to refurbish parts of the Willows Event Facility after the flooding. Even after nearly two weeks of warm and dry weather, most of it is still underwater. Workers couldn't really start on fixing up the inside of their central activities building, until Tuesday. Water got in underneath the building and ruined the floors.
"Well, inside the building, we had twenty inches of water, inside the building. And the water was coming up onto the parking lots. And we were ankle deep on the parking lots going in," explained Kay Batte, the owner of the facility.
For Batte as the long-time owner of the Willows, this is the worst flooding she said she has ever seen on this property. And it's not like there are a lot of easy ways to get water out.
"We have no place to pump, because we are a designated runoff area. So we, we can't pump out," said Batte.
That means that everything has to dry naturally. And Batte said she has already seen some progress.
"And it has evaporated. We've been marking a place, and like I said it will be two weeks tomorrow, it's gone down approximately 20 inches," explained Batte.
And while all of this water means almost all events are canceled for August and September, Batte said they plan to open the inside by the beginning of October. She is thankful that most people who had to cancel their events at the Willows have been very understanding. And she is hopeful for the future.
