On Aug. 10, 3.77 inches of rain poured down on East Lansing and the surrounding area, Evan Webb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said.
The bulk of the rain fell inside a mere three-hour period from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The weather service measures rainfall for the area at the Capital Region International Airport in DeWitt Township. Flooding was a major issue seen throughout the city due to the storm.
“Flooding was pretty wide-spread and not just isolated to East Lansing. It was due to the amount and short duration of time that the rain arrived,” Ron Lacasse, infrastructure administrator for the city of East Lansing, said.
Lacasse said the city’s sewers and catch basins, which are used to collect water into the sewers, can only take in so much water at once. Most of the city’s sewers and catch basins were operating at or above capacity, but extensive surface flooding was seen throughout the city.
East Lansing police Lt. Steve Gonzalez said significant flooding occurred at the intersections of Saginaw Street and Coolidge Road, as well as at Trowbridge Road and Harrison Road.
Lacasse said the city has not found any damaged infrastructure from the storm, but received about 20 to 25 calls reporting flooding.
One issue the city faced was the clogging of catch basins with materials from construction sites. Trowbridge Road was flooded after catch basins were clogged with material from the Trowbridge Lofts project, according to Lacasse.
Lacasse said besides clearing clogged catch basins, there is not much the city can do except wait for the rain to slow down when a storm such as this hits.
It was a busy day for Tom Allen, owner of Allen’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning, who said he received around 175 calls during the 48-hour period surrounding and during the storm. This is compared to the usual 10 to 14 calls Allen said his company usually receives over the same period of time.
Allen said preventative maintenance is key to stopping in-home flooding during a storm like this one. Residents should have their sewer lines cleaned once a year and use root cleaner twice a year, according to Allen.
