The science of flooding: how much water did it take for the dams in mid-Michigan to break?

(FOX 2) - Days of heavy rain and runoff pushed the rivers in Midland County to high levels. But just how much water did it take for the dams to break? 

When it comes to catastrophic flooding events like this, it's often very hard for us to visualize how much water is involved. FOX 2's Derek Kevra helps us figure out the math. 

Wixom Lake near the Edenville Dam is filled with roughly 3.4 billion cubic feet of water, and Sanford Lake near the Sanford Dam is filled with roughly 2.6 billion cubic feet of water. 

A pond near Derek's home is roughly the size of a football field. The math for that equals to about 175,000 cubic feet of water. So how many of his ponds would be filled and then dumped to equal the amount of water that's flooding the Midland area right now? 

Roughly 35,000 fillings and dumpings. 

That's how much water is flowing down the Tittabawassee River towards cities like Midland and the surrounding areas. 

RELATED: Tittabawassee River expected to crest at 38 feet, 6 feet over previous record

Ten thousand people have evacuated from their homes in Edenville, Sanford and parts of Midland, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency for Midland County. 

The Weather Service issued flood warnings because 4 to 7 inches of rain has fallen since Sunday. Heavy runoff pushed rivers higher. This coming Saturday, there's a 30% chance of rain, with more moving into the area Sunday and Monday.