Although flooding from the Red Cedar River is expected this week, MSU officials are not yet worried about the potential impact on university sports fields.
“It’s always possible that our fields can be damaged if we have (heavy) flooding, but it would take pretty significant flooding,” Athletic Turf Manager Amy Fouty said.
National Weather Service Hydrologist Mark Walton, based in Grand Rapids, said although minimal damage is expected on campus, similar flooding has impacted MSU’s sports fields in the past.
He said the Red Cedar River, typically with waters at about 4-feet high, is expected to reach up to about 7 feet by Friday.
“For the rest of today and tomorrow, you will see continual rain move through an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain to Friday,” Walton said. “There’s still a lot of water coming in.”
Fouty said flood waters don’t pose a real threat to fields until the water level reaches about 8.5 feet high.
Roads near Detroit already have been impacted by the current weather — although not particularly unusual for this time of year — and drivers should be particularly careful and not try to drive through roads with flooding.
Walton said flooding causes about 100 deaths annually, and about half involve drivers in flooded roadways.
He said flooding will last through the weekend, but rain will taper off Friday. The rain likely will return next week “for another round.”
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