This week marks the one-year anniversary of the flood that swept through many mid-Michigan communities.
Many of the victims are involved in lawsuits against the state and Boyce Entities, who controlled the Edenville and Sanford Dams when they failed in May of last year.
"I had my pencil in my pocket and whatever I had on me and we went out," said Carl Hamann, resident.
A pencil is all Hamann had when he walked away from his home after watching water from the Sanford Dam failure rush towards him.
"If we wouldn't have left, we both would have died. Because the water level came up so fast that water was coming down at about 45 miles per hour," Hamann said.