Mike Pizzi of Hubbell points out damage from Thursday’s rains in his yard in Hubbell Sunday. The area continues to recover from the flooding that took place June 17. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo by Garrett Neese)

HOUGHTON — The heavy rain that hit the Copper County Thursday morning is still having an impact in some areas.

Jon Stone, coordinator of the Volunteer Resource Center, said many homes were reporting water back in basements after Thursday’s rain, particularly along the M-26 corridor between Ripley and Lake Linden.

Unlike the June 17 flash flood, the latest flood water carried less heavy silt, Stone said.

“It didn’t set us back to zero, but it certainly set us back the better part of a week in those areas,” he said.

In Stanton Township, landslides had come across Houghton Canal Road Thursday but had quickly been removed by Houghton County Road Commission crews, Stone said.

Angela Pruetz, a Houghton native now living in downstate Clarkston, volunteered along Coles Creek Road Thursday along with her sons, Brady, 9, and Austin, 8.

Brady was the instigator, she said.

“It was his birthday, and he wanted to do something,” she said. “I thought that was pretty powerful for a 9-year-old to want to help somebody.”

They had gone to the volunteer center, which directed them to Coles Creek, where the upper shelf had broken off and homes were in danger, she said.

“We had to rebuild the wall with sandbags and whatever we could find,” she said. “They ran out of sandbags, so we used rocks and what have you to redirect the creek there.”

Houghton County assisted with a backhoe, she said. Pruetz estimated 30 volunteers worked at the site.

“Clearly there were a lot that were affected even by the second flood,” she said. “Just one little section, and people came out to help.”

As of Saturday, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department had issued a swim advisory for any areas experiencing heavy rain during Thursday’s storm, which dropped 1-5 inches on the western Upper Peninsula.

Eleven beaches in the western Upper Peninsula were marked as closed as of Saturday.

Many of these beaches had been in the intermediate advisory stage prior to the rain that caused additional runoff.

Seventy-five wells had tested positive for bacteria, the Houghton County Office of Emergency Measures said Friday.

Eighteen additional roads were damaged, Houghton County said. As of late Thursday, all but Pewabic Street in Ripley and Eighth Street in Hubbell were passable again.

Sharon Avenue in Houghton, which had been scheduled to reopen to traffic late Thursday, was pushed back a day due to the rain.

Mike Pizzi of Hubbell was placing stone pads in front of his shed Friday to prevent it from washing away in the event of other rain. The June 17 flood had put 5 feet of water in his basement. Repairs and rerouting had reduced the depth to 5 inches on Thursday, he said.

Unlike the earlier storm, water flooded his yard, removing the grass and seeding from the front and side of his house.

“I’m not putting anything in, because until they get something fixed up here, I’m going to put mine rock in here — large mine rock and then crushed mine rock on top of it, just so it doesn’t wash away again,” he said. “Either that or I’ve got to have it blacktopped all the way. Because it just doesn’t hold that volume of water.”