Spring Floods

April 24th, 2013

When Native Americans occupied the shores of the Grand River they welcomed the river's spring floods as they cleansed the lowlands and islands of debris for the coming season. 

Transcript

When Native Americans occupied the shores of the Grand River, they welcomed the river’s spring floods as they cleansed the lowlands and islands of debris for the coming season.

The white settlers and their descendants have not viewed the flooding with the same positive perspective. In the great flood of 1838 the ice jammed twenty to thirty feet high forcing the river into a new channel, thus cutting people off from the mainland.

The flood in March of 1852 was the worst since 1838. The river steamboats floated into Waterloo St. in front of the Eagle Hotel, about where the Art Museum stands today.

The greatest flood was that of March 1904. The water reached a height of 20.4 feet at Pearl St. Most of the West Side was completely inundated, as were lower areas of the east side. Factories were closed, the city was without lights, and boats were brought from Reeds Lake to rescue marooned families. There have been numerous floods since 1904, but none with such widespread destruction.

The flood in March of 1948, with a high-water mark at 18.4 ft., happened when the ground was still frozen. Many think thawing snow causes flooding. Often it’s a ground thaw that creates a flood by coming after the rain and snow have already run off the frozen surface, much like rain pouring off a tin roof.