If Liz Warner wasn’t cooking meals for Monday night bingo at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cheboygan or conducting food and beverage safety training for restaurant professionals, she could be volunteering with the American Red Cross. 

Local residents and the Red Cross itself saw her compassion and humanitarian spirit firsthand last month when Warner stepped forward to help her community amid the worst flooding disaster ever seen in Northern Michigan, all the while managing her own home situation. At least 40 homes were either destroyed or sustained major damage from extreme snowmelt and record-setting rainfall.

At the request of the Red Cross Warner donned her cooking apron and prepared dinner meals at the K of C Hall after it was converted into a temporary Red Cross shelter for residents displaced by flooding. The building is designated as a shelter by local emergency management.

During the six days the shelter was open, residents were served homemade meals, including chicken noodle soup, beef stew, chili, chili dogs and fresh bread. Warner also prepared gluten-free lasagna and spaghetti. The Red Cross provided breakfast and lunch.

Cooking is her passion and Warner was happy to support her community and the Red Cross at a time of need. 

“Being able to cook and help at the shelter gave me something to focus on while everything was going on. It kept my mind off my home,” said Warner, a 28-year Cheboygan resident and mother of three boys. “One of my best friends and her daughter lives down the road and stayed there. We were able to build new friendships with people who were sheltering and lean on each other. Laughing through the chaos is what got us through that week.”

Warner and her family are currently staying at an Airbnb until it’s safe to return to their three-bedroom home. Although floodwaters did not enter the house, water was found in the crawl space. 

“We have to wait for the water to recede from our driveway and backyard and make sure everything is safe before we can try and go back,” she said. 

The home next door, a generations old family home owned by her boyfriend’s grandfather, sustained extensive damage and is unhabitable. At one point, minnows could be seen swimming through the living room. 

“We live on a small peninsula on Black Lake with a little bridge leading to our house,” Warner said. “All of it ended up under water. We are almost literally part of the lake.” 

The lake remains about five feet above its normal summer water level, she said.

The family was recently reunited with Lucy, their 1-year-old rescue dog – a mix of boxer, Labrador retriever and pit bull – who had been staying at a local dog retreat. Nora, a 5-year-old Himalayan cat owned by her boyfriend’s grandfather, is also safe.

The flooding disaster came about 13 months after Northern Michigan faced another weather-related emergency, when a crippling ice storm in March 2025 caused widespread power outages, displaced residents, made roads impassable and damaged forests. After the storm, the K of C Hall served as a shelter and staging area for first responders and National Guard members. 

On April 13, Warner was preparing a pot of chicken noodle soup for that night’s bingo game when she was notified the game had been canceled and the building was being transitioned into a shelter due to flooding. Cheboygan residents were instructed to evacuate and many sought refuge at the site. They were greeted with soup and fresh bread.

“We were able to feed everybody who came into the building,” she said. “I love my community and that is a big driving force in wanting to be able to help. We live in a fantastic community that has stepped up in times of need and crises. We are a small community but we are mighty.” 

Warner said the Red Cross volunteers who staffed the shelter became an extended family to her and the residents. 

“The volunteers watched us go through a whole range of emotions that week,” she said. “They were very supportive and very helpful. The Red Cross was right there. They did a fantastic job. 

“The volunteers, I cannot say enough good about what they did. They left the comfort of their homes to help us,” she added. “I even told my boyfriend when my kids are grown up and things are less hectic, wouldn’t be cool to volunteer with the Red Cross.” 

By David Olejarz, regional communications director