Flood — Ottawa, Michigan

2008-12-27 · near Crisp, Ottawa, Michigan

Event narrative

Flooding across portions of Ottawa county was a result of the combination of heavy rain and melting of a significant snowpack across the area. There were up to 80 road closures and significant flooding of numerous intersections. At one time a section of US-31 was closed. Water up to four feet deep across some roads floated several cars.

The road shoulder and pavement was washed out on several roads in Jamestown, Hudsonville and Conklin. Roads in several subdivisions across Ottawa county were submerged under two to three feet of water and there were reports of first floors of some homes being flooded.

Severe flooding also occurred in the village of Spring Lake, city of Grand Haven and across Spring Lake and Robinson Townships as the result of back water from an ice jam on the Grand River in Grand Haven.

A damage assessment conducted by Ottawa county revealed that a total of $270,500 worth of damage occurred to public infrastructure, with a total of $3,292,400 worth of damage to private property. As a result of the widespread flooding, a local state of emergency was declared in Ottawa county.

Wider weather episode

Most of southwestern lower Michigan had a substantial snowpack on the ground on Christmas Day. Most if not all of that snowpack melted as a result of warm temperatures, high winds and rain after Christmas. Several locations received an inch and a half to two inches of rainfall, all of which fell in only a twenty four hour time period. The flooding caused well over three million dollars worth of damage across Ottawa county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.8600, -86.0800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 143329. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.