Like many others in East Lansing, Karen Jennings found herself scrambling to figure out how to keep her basement from flooding after a bout of heavy rainfall this summer.
“I'm aware that those were crazy, crazy storms, but it does seem like there's possibly something that is inadequate in the city's infrastructure to be able to handle the rain,” Jennings said.
The 56-year-old Walnut Heights resident joined about 60 residents at a city-hosted listening session Thursday to discuss the impacts of flooding during the storms in June and July.
Staff with the city’s Department of Public Works sat at tables in a room at the Hannah Community Center interviewing various residents, using their responses to inform future planning. East Lansing City Councilmember Erik Altmann spoke with some residents during the four-hour listening session.
Dave Solberg, who lives with his wife east of Patriarche Park, shares Jennings' concerns.
He notes whenever water begins to collect on his street from the rain, his basement floods despite having installed catch basins in his backyard to channel rainwater into the city’s sewer system.
“It seems like that pipe that that I outlet into is just inundated with water, and that means there's blockages all the way,” said Solberg. “There's some obstruction, whether it's just too small of a pipe or whatever.”
This summer isn’t the first time wet weather left vehicles and basements submerged.
In August 2021, thunderstorms brought several inches of rain, flooding some east side homes and streets. An independent report of that storm’s effects in East Lansing concluded the city is only prepared to withstand milder precipitation.
Walnut Heights resident Maryanne Illman recalls her basement flooding so badly in 2021 that her furnace was damaged, prompting her to install a water pump system and foundation drainage to keep the water from pooling.
The modifications were no match for the storms that followed Hurricane Beryl this year, which brought up to 5 inches of rain in a two-hour period July 9. Illman said she managed to collect 30 gallons of rainwater from her gutters.
“I pulled into my garage door and my house was like Niagara Falls,” she said.
This summer’s floods had varying impacts across East Lansing, with some areas experiencing more severe damage than others.
While sites near Michigan State University remained unaffected, roadways north of Burcham Hills were completely submerged under several inches of water. City officials are investigating why certain areas were hit harder than others.
“We cannot ignore the fact that the rain events in June and July were incredible downpour in short period of time I'm not sure any system is designed to handle that,” said East Lansing City Manager Robert Belleman.
“But we're looking at ways to mitigate the adverse impact on properties, be it the flooding of their personal property, their home, their basements.”
The East Lansing City Council is paying engineering firm HDR Michigan Inc $24,500 to produce a post-storm analysis using data from residents and the city to evaluate the area’s storm water system and possible solutions.
City officials have already begun thinking about strategies that could mitigate the flooding from storms, including a complete overhaul of the storm water system and emergency maneuvers.
“Can we flood parks or other public lands temporarily during these large rain events that could then redirect away from somebody's basement? Streets are intended to flood, but it should not be creeping up onto somebody's front lawn,” explained Belleman.
The report from HDR Michigan is expected to be presented to the city council in September.
East Lansing is collecting responses for its online public survey about flood prone areas.
