By Mallory Pearson
Published: Oct. 23, 2020 at 5:00 PM EDT
SANFORD, Mich. (WJRT) - The village of Sanford took another step toward normal on Friday, as the Saginaw Road bridge reopened five months after it sustained heavy damage from May’s flooding.
The small section of roadway is bringing people together in more ways than one.
“We all were here during the flood while the water was going over the top and we closed the road, and then we haven’t been able to travel over it since the flood so were super excited,” said Sanford resident Delores Porte.
The tight-knit village, which sustained some of the worst flooding damage in May, finally is reconnected with the bridge reopening.
“It’s very exciting to see everyone come out -- people came with flags, dogs, bikes,” Porte said. “So it’s just very fun to see everyone.”
The road is the main connection through town. With the fire department just at the corner, the reopening has been critical in their life-saving efforts.
“It’s about an extra seven to eight minutes. And that impact, last night, about a half mile from here we had a structure fire. It didn’t spread into the house because we came across the bridge and that made all the difference,” said Jerome Township Fire Chief Jerry Cole.
It’s been a tough few months for the village of Sanford, but residents say they’re taking every day one stop at a time and rebuilding to a new level of Sanford strong.
Clean-up also was underway Friday at the Sanford dam. Residents are encouraged to come and claim any of their property that may have been swept away by the May floods and trapped behind the dam.
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