WATCH: Historic Great Lakes Flooding Sends Massive Ice Chunks Crashing Into Michigan Homes

The flooding devastating Michigan right now is already historic. Now it's doing something almost no one has seen before.

Residents along Black Lake in Cheboygan County are dealing with a brutal combination: not only are their homes being inundated by floodwaters, but massive sheets of ice — buoyed by those same rising waters — are being pushed directly into their homes by the wind, causing significant structural damage on top of the flooding already underway.

AccuWeather describes the situation as worse than a typical "ice shove" — the phenomenon that normally occurs in winter when wind drives chunks of ice onto shore. This time, the combination of historic flooding and ice proved even more destructive than either would be alone, with huge blocks of ice smashing through home windows and walls along the lake.

40 Michigan Counties Under State of Emergency

The Black Lake ice damage is one chapter in a broader disaster unfolding across Michigan and the surrounding Great Lakes region. The statewide flooding dashboard from Michigan Police showed 40 counties under a state of emergency, with road closures due to flooding at dozens of locations statewide.

Take a look at the damage from the ice and the flooding at Black Lake in Onaway Michigan. pic.twitter.com/KPmuJU9k9w

— Dave Bondy (@DaveBondyTV) April 21, 2026

New river height records were set last week at the Manistee River near Sherman and the Muskegon River at Newaygo, Evart and Bridgeton. State officials are asking residents to report damage online after being overwhelmed with flooding over the past several weeks.

Cheboygan Dam Near Failure

Several dams came dangerously close to failure during the flooding. The Cheboygan Dam — which drew national attention last week as water levels surged — came within 5.5 inches of overtopping before operations at upstream dams were finally pulled back as the situation stabilized.

"The monumental and successful efforts by Department of Natural Resources staff and cooperators will continue," said Richard Hill, co-leader of the DNR Incident Management Team.

The Cheboygan Dam was not the only structure threatened. The Homestead Dam in Benzie County nearly failed, requiring emergency reinforcement efforts. Evacuations were issued near the Croton Dam. And Bucks Pond, a small private dam, failed entirely on April 13.

Residents along Black Lake in Cheboygan county are not only dealing with substantial flooding, but also a rare circumstance where ice has been pushed into the homes from the winds. This has created additional structural damage to many homes in the area. pic.twitter.com/TEugicbBOc

— Michigan Storm Chasers (@MiStormChasers) April 21, 2026

In neighboring Wisconsin, flood warnings and evacuations were also issued last week. The Wolf River at New London set a new height record, and flooding inundated Washington Elementary School in Janesville, forcing roughly 400 students to relocate while the school recovers.

Most river gauges were falling by Tuesday morning, but several remained above major flood stage in Wisconsin and Illinois. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that additional rain is possible Thursday night into Friday — and again next week — for the already saturated and flood-weary region.

No casualties have been reported from the flooding so far.