ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Weeks of winds and waves continue to take a toll on people living along the Lake Michigan shoreline, including the City of Algoma.
Damage is being reported all along the shoreline, from the Chamber of Commerce to sidewalks near the Algoma Harbor.
“It is to the point where it’s almost detached. It’s eroded right underneath it. There’s no rock structure, no aggregate structure underneath it. It’s more or less washed out,” says Algoma City Public Works Director Matt Murphy.
He says there really isn’t much the city can do at this point, but some spots are handling the beating better than others.
“We haven’t been out there to do any physical inspections yet, but so far, we have no reports. Everything seems to be holding together with the lighthouse,” Murphy says.
But Christmas Tree Point at the city marina has not fared quite as well.
Murphy says “the waves more or less pushed that whole project out. That’s completely destroyed.”
Over at the Chamber of Commerce, which has been located right on the water since the early 1990s, the view isn’t quite as nice as employees are used to seeing.
Algoma Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kay Smith says “we lost quite a bit of grass and frontage, about three-and-a-half feet. So it was undercutting the grass and the shoreline, and just falling into the lake.”
Cleanup is underway, and city leaders hope to evaluate the situation soon and find options to repair the damage this spring.
