Flood — Kalamazoo, Michigan

2008-09-13 to 2008-09-17 · near Blownell, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Event narrative

A wave of low pressure moving along a slow moving front and the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought heavy rain to Southwest Lower Michigan. The rain started on the twelfth and persisted through the thirteenth and fourteenth.

Rainfall totals were impressive and in excess of ten inches across portions of Kalamazoo county, including a report of 10.5 inches at Augusta. The heaviest rain occurred along and just north of the Interstate 94 corridor across northern and central Kalamazoo county.

A local state of emergency was declared for Kalamazoo county and moderate river flooding occurred on the Kalamazoo river at Comstock. Damage to public infrastructure (mostly road and bridge washouts) and to homes from flooding was estimated to exceed 11 million dollars.

The worst flooding occurred near Comstock, where the river rose to 10.43 feet, the third highest crest on record. Many homes and businesses downstream were flooded. Many roads in the city of Kalamazoo were closed for several days due to high water.

In fact, in the city of Kalamazoo, ten businesses were flooded, 466 homes were flooded, and ten major street intersections in downtown Kalamazoo were flooded.

Wider weather episode

Extensive flooding occurred across Kalamazoo county as a result of excessive rainfall which began on the twelfth and continued on the thirteenth and fourteenth. Many roads in the city of Kalamazoo were closed for several days and damage to public infrastructure (mostly roads and bridge washouts) was estimated at eleven million dollars.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.3307, -85.6522)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 135907. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.