‘Your whole life is in a house and it’s gone’ -- Residents in Midland County return after evacuations

SANFORD, Mich. – Many people who lived in Sanford returned home to find nothing left after Tuesday’s dam failures and floods.

“Roads were blocked off so this is the first time we could get here," said Pat Perry. "It is astonishing. I can’t believe the devastation.”

READ: ‘Catastrophic’ flooding, evacuations in mid-Michigan as dams fail: What to know

Pat and Jerry Perry could walk back into the village of Sandford Thursday to check to see if their home of 31 years is still standing.

“You don’t expect it to be gone. It’s something you can’t even fathom," Pat Perry said. "Your whole life is in a house and it is gone.”

RELATED: 'Devastating. Just Devastating’ -- Wixom Lake becomes muddy field after dam failures

“You can see where my house was," Jerry Perry said. "My neighbors home floated down the river and to the back of the Dollar General.”

When a dam upriver gave way, a wall of water took much of the village out -- including Pat and Jerry’s home. The scale of the destruction can take your breath away.

“I am glad everyone is safe. Things are just things, but it is a hard pill to swallow," Pat Perry said. “We hope we can find somewhere else to live and somewhere that is affordable for us.”

MORE FLOOD COVERAGE:

• Shocking mid-Michigan flood pictures show ravaged roads, underwater houses, floating cars
• Gov. Whitmer on mid-Michigan floods: Devastation, possible legal action, peak flood level
• Investigating who is responsible for Edenville Dam failure that led to devastating floods
• Tim Pamplin tours mid-Michigan flood damage: ‘Roof of a house. No idea where rest of the house is’
• ‘2020 has been one blow after another’ -- Midland Farmers Market hit by flood day before reopening
• ‘Looked like Niagra Falls’ -- Dam that created Wixom Lake gives way, flooding mid-Michigan communities