Roughly a dozen rivers in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula are under a flood warning after recent rainfall and snowmelt caused them to rise, according to the National Weather Service.
The warnings come as nearly two dozen northern Michigan counties are under flood warnings until Sunday evening, which the agency issued while more rain is predicted for Friday night.
In southeast Michigan, the NWS has issued flood warnings for the Cass River in Frankenmuth, which affects Saginaw County, as well as the Saginaw River in Saginaw, which affects Bay and Saginaw counties.
In Kent County, Benjamin Rance, emergency management administrator for the city of Grand Rapids, said the levels on the Grand River started rising early Wednesday morning because of recent rain in Kent County.
He said the city isn’t at minor flood stage yet, and the National Weather Service’s forecasts for the cresting of the river have “gotten much better” throughout the week.
“Although the river continues to rise, we are not projected to get as high as we thought we might earlier this week,” he said, “and we are much more comfortable with the current predictions that we’re getting.”
The weather service projects that the Grand River in Grand Rapids will get to the minor flood stage —or 18 feet — sometime late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, Rance said. Current models show that the river in the city will crest at around 19 or 19.5 feet on Monday afternoon or evening, he said.
Rance said there will be minor flooding of very specific roads on the west side of the river, and he said the city tends to block those areas from entering vehicles. He expects only pooling of water on these streets.
He noted that at minor flood stage, the city starts monitoring its flood wall, which he said can easily withstand these river levels. He said it can handle up to around 24 feet.
“At 18 feet, we actually start doing monitoring of all of the sections of our flood wall in the city,” he said. “So there’s a little bit of an additional work that happens internally within the city, but most residents in the city won’t see any impact to our services or our operations.”
Warnings for other rivers in Michigan
A flood warning for the Cass River is in effect until Saturday morning. Officials said the river reached a crest of 17.2 feet on Thursday, and its flood stage is 17.0 feet. They expect it will fall below its flood stage Friday night and fall to about 8.8 feet by April 23.
The warning for the Saginaw River, meanwhile, is in effect until Monday morning. Officials report the river reached a crest of 18.2 feet on Thursday, and its flood stage is 17.0 feet. They predict it could rise to 18.4 feet by Friday evening and should fall below flood stage late Sunday.
And in mid-Michigan, the Tittabawassee River in Midland is also under a flood warning that affects Saginaw and Midland counties. The warning is in effect until Sunday morning.
The agency said the river reached a crest of 25.8 feet on Thursday, and its flood stage is 24 feet. They forecast it could rise to 26.3 feet by Friday morning and should fall below flood stage late Saturday.
Elsewhere, the NWS said rivers also under flood warnings include:
∎ The Thornapple River above Hastings in Barry County;
∎ The Maple River at Maple Rapids and the Looking Glass River near Eagle in Clinton County;
∎ The Pine River at Alma in Gratiot County;
∎ The Grand River at Lansing, the Red Cedar River at East Lansing, and the Sycamore Creek at Holt, in Ingham County;
∎ The Grand River at Ionia in Ionia County;
∎ The Chippewa River below Mt. Pleasant in Isabella County;
∎ The Portage River near Vicksburg in Kalamazoo County;
∎ The Thornapple River near Caledonia in Kent County;
∎ The White River near Whitehall in Muskegon County;
∎ The Muskegon River at Bridgeton and at Newaygo in Newaygo County;
∎ The Muskegon River at Evart in Osceola County;
∎ The Manistee River near Sherman affecting Wexford County.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
X: @CharlesERamirez
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: These 12 Michigan rivers under flood warning from rains, snowmelt
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
