Mayor Mike Bradley says he and many Sarnians are thinking about Midland Michigan residents who are dealing with dangerous flooding.
Following heavy rains over several days, two dams collapsed causing major flooding.
The Tittabawassee River is expected to crest at 38 feet by Thursday morning, surpassing the previous record of 33.9 feet set during a 500-year flood event in 1986.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency and thousands of homes were being evacuated.
Mayor Bradley said Midland and Sarnia have strong connections and the communities have long been regarded as unofficial sister cities.
He said the disastrous flooding in the midst of the pandemic has the Michigan community trying to deal with an emergency within an emergency.
"The worst part about having the other emergency going on with COVID, it's an emergency where people shouldn't have contact with each other, but in the middle of a flood and you've got to move people out and evacuate them," said Bradley." We're talking tens of thousands of people, that's going to be very difficult to do."
Sarnia's original link with Midland is through Dow Chemical. Dow left Sarnia in 2006 but the company still has a large operation in Midland and the mayor said dozens of Sarnians moved there to work. He said over 16,000 people participated in the Michitario Friendship Games that took place between the two communities over 21 years before ending in 2008.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves
