密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特莫将在周二晚些时候发布紧急声明，此前一座结构不稳固的大坝在数日洪水后倒塌。
该事件发生在不到一周前，该州关闭了国会大厦，取消了2010年的立法会议面对死亡威胁针对惠特莫执行美国国内关闭令。
据美国国家气象局称，自上周末以来，米德兰经历了约3至4英寸的降雨，维索姆湖所在的伊登维尔大坝被决堤。紧急声明将给予州和地方官员更多的资源来应对大坝的情况。
今天早些时候，在当局要求他们离开附近地区和上涨的洪水威胁后，该地区几英里范围内的许多逃离居民前往为撤离者开放的学校。为了防止受伤，官员们还关闭了50多条道路。
据美联社报道，大坝倒塌前，当地居民凯瑟琳·西斯说:“水位非常高。”。“昨晚，紧急救援人员挨家挨户地来确保每个人都出去了。我们每年都有轻微的洪水，但这是不寻常的。”
密歇根州州长格雷琴惠特莫站在一个活动的舞台上，通用汽车公司宣布通用汽车公司底特律-哈姆川克装配厂将于2020年1月27日在密歇根州哈姆川克建造全电动巡航原点自动驾驶航天飞机。
过去几天中西部地区的暴雨也袭击了芝加哥、伊利诺伊、俄亥俄州和印第安纳州北部的部分地区。
最近几周，密歇根州频频成为全国头条新闻，抗议惠特莫旨在遏制冠状病毒在流感大流行中蔓延的“留在家里”的命令不断升级。上周，兰辛的州议会大楼被关闭，因为计划参加“审判日”示威的抗议者在只接受邀请的脸书群上发表评论，要求绞死、私刑处死、枪决、殴打或斩首州长。
“我们还没有发生任何流血事件，但是人口众多的[原文如此]数到三，昨天是第二天，”戴夫·梅森海默在一个有385，000名成员的名为“反对过度隔离的道根人”的脸书团体中写道接下来是用暴君的鲜血浇灌自由之树，”他总结道。
数百名武装反封锁抗议者出现在兰辛几天后，国会大厦也关闭了。惠特默称示威是有组织的政治声明。
“当人们带着枪出现，当人们带着像邦联旗帜这样的东西出现时，它告诉你这不是真正的封锁，也不是一种呆在家里的秩序，”她说。
惠特莫要求副总统迈克·彭斯阻止正在进行的反封锁示威者，因为担心他们的抗议会通过COVID-19的进一步传播危及生命。她的请求是在唐纳德·特朗普总统通过推文“解放密歇根”来支持抗议者几周后提出的总统后来说，一些州实施了“过于严厉”的流行病政策。
新闻周刊联系惠特莫的办公室，寻求进一步的评论。这篇文章将会更新任何回应。
DAM BREACH COMPOUNDS MICHIGAN MISERY AMID FLOODS, PROTESTS AND PANDEMIC
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be issuing an emergency declaration later on Tuesday after a structurally unsound dam collapsed following days of flooding.
The incident comes less than a week after the state closed down its capitol building, canceling its legislative session in the face of death threats made against Whitmer for implementing stateside shutdown orders.
The Edenville Dam, which holds Wixom Lake, was breached after the Midland experienced around 3 to 4 inches of rain since the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. The emergency declaration will give state and local officials further resources to respond to the dam situation.
Many fleeing residents within several miles of the area headed to schools opened for evacuees after they were asked by authorities to leave the vicinity and the threat of rising waters earlier today. To prevent injuries, officials also closed more than 50 roads.
"The water is very high," local resident Catherine Sias said before the dam collapsed, according to Associated Press. "Last night, emergency responders came door-to-door to make sure everybody got out. We have mild flooding every year, but this is unusual."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stands on stage at an event where General Motors announced that GMs Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant will build the all-electric Cruise Origin self-driving shuttle on January 27, 2020 in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Heavy rains in the Midwest over the past few days also flowed onto parts of Chicago, Illinois, Ohio and northern Indiana.
The state of Michigan has made national headlines frequently in recent weeks over escalating protests against Whitmer's stay-at-home order meant to curb the spread of coronavirus amid the pandemic. Last week, the state's capitol building in Lansing was closed down after protesters, who planned to attend a "Judgement Day" demonstration, called for the governor to be hanged, lynched, shot, beaten or beheaded in comments made on invite-only Facebook groups.
"We haven't had any bloodshed yet, but the populous [sic] is counting to three, and yesterday was day two," Dave Meisenheimer wrote in a 385,000-member Facebook group called Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine. "Next comes the watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants," he concluded.
The shuttering of the capitol also came days after hundreds of armed anti-lockdown protesters showed up in Lansing. Whitmer called the demonstrations an organized political statement.
"When people are showing up with guns, when people are showing up with things like confederate flags, it tells you that this isn't really about the lockdown or about a perception of a stay home order," she said.
Whitmer asked Vice President Mike Pence to discourage the ongoing anti-lockdown demonstrators out of fear that their protests could endanger lives through the further spread of COVID-19. Her request came weeks after President Donald Trump offered support for the protesters by tweeting, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN." The president later said that some states have enforced pandemic policies that are "too tough."
Newsweek reached out to Whitmer's office for further comment. This article will be updated with any response.
