Scenes from Lowell: 2023 Flood Edition

For the fourth time in the past decade. the Grand River hit the minor flooding stage.

According to the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service — part of the National Weather Service — this spring’s flooding crested at 16.59 feet in the overnight hours between Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8. That level was down from earlier predictions of 17+ feet and 16.9 feet. The dry, warm weather heading into the weekend undoubtedly helped keep the river’s level lower.

Although the 2023 flood wasn’t as high as those in 2020 and 2018 — and a far cry from the record-setting flood of 2013 — it still turned fields into lakes and caused grief for residents in the Front Street neighborhood.

Here’s a look back at the floodwaters with most photos taken between 7:30-8pm Friday night.

The west side of town along the river is largely industrial and government-owned property. Here, you can see water creeping from the river through Grand Rapids Gravel’s gravel mining operation. While it filled a ditch by Bowes Road, the water wasn’t high enough to reach the road surface.

Down at Stoney Lakeside Park, the water crept up onto a parking area…

…and the lake covered the sand. Sorry, no beach volleyball over the weekend.

Continuing down Bowes Road, some water made its way onto the street in front of Schneider Manor although it wasn’t enough to impede traffic.

Water from the Grand River largely covered the field sitting at the northwest corner of Bowes and Hudson.

 

The water was “for the birds,” so to speak.

And here is the southwest corner next to Gilda’s Club/Senior Neighbors on Hudson.

Of course, the first thing to flood every year is Recreation Park, aka the fairgrounds.

These geese found a dry spot.

But the rest of the park looked like a lake.

Water extended back to the barns…

…and made it a little too soggy for sandwiches or picnicking in the park.

Burch Field was underwater too…

…although thanks to the lay of the land, the water didn’t evenly cover the area.

While the Grand River was the body of water that was flooding, the Flat River — which ends in the Grand — saw its levels rise too. From the swirls of water in the foreground of this photo, you can see how fast the current was moving. It’s always a good idea to stay away from the dam when on the river, but especially so during a flood.

And here’s what it looked like south of  theMain Street bridge. You can see the water almost up to the railroad tracks leading to King Milling Co.

Nowadays, the Grand River is the cause of most concerning flooding in the city, but Flat River floods were catastrophic in 1904 and 1905.

The waters of the Flat and Grand Rivers seem to mingle at this point to flood nearby trees and islands.

The commercial district didn’t have too much to worry about though. This is as far as the water came up on S. Monroe Street.

The folks in the Front Street neighborhood weren’t so lucky though.

Water spilled over Front Street and onto the side streets.

 

The intersections at Division and Jackson were completely submerged.

Lowell Police were patrolling the area in case anyone thought they might decide to blow past the barriers and cruise through the water.

These feathered residents were seeking refuge behind Keiser’s Restaurant. We attempted to get their comments on the situation, but once they saw us, they decided they preferred the floodwaters to our company.