"A Flood of Problems" in Michigan: An Urban Environmental History

Abstract

The Michigan Historical Review 45:1 (Spring 2019): 81-107©2019 Central Michigan University. ISSN 0890-1686 All Rights Reserved “A Flood of Problems” in Michigan: An Urban Environmental History By Nancy Germano Spring rains produced “A Flood of Problems,” announced the front page of the Kalamazoo Gazette on Saturday, April 19, 1975. The previous evening’s four-inch downpour exceeded the city’s total rainfall for the entire month of April 1974 (3.59 inches) and April 1973 (3.99 inches). The newspaper’s reporters detailed local “problems,” including flooded roads, overflowing sewer systems, and flooded basements in homes near the sewage treatment plant. Lansing and Flint also experienced heavy rain. Flooding and mudslides closed Interstates 75, 96, and 496 and US Highway 23. A mudslide on westbound I-496 in Lansing trapped several vehicles, including a fire engine.1 Flooding across the state was described as the “worst since 1947.” With expected damage in the millions of dollars, Governor William G. Milliken asked President Gerald R. Ford for federal disaster aid for fourteen counties.2 While Lansing endured the initial brunt of the 1975 storm emergency, Kalamazoo remained in the path of rising waters and suffered subsequent damage. Kalamazoo authorities evacuated eighty area families from their homes, while others voluntarily abandoned their homes. City crews worked round the clock to fill sandbags and pump out basements. Kalamazoo Township Supervisor F. E. Griffith told a Gazette reporter that the fire department gave top priority to pumping basements for those homes that would not fill with water again, explaining that it was not practical to pump an entire neighborhood surrounded by a pond of water. City health officials warned homeowners to avoid contact with the water because of probable pollution from septic systems, to disinfect walls and household items, and to throw away all food items except canned goods. The Gazette also ran an article featuring warnings by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development of the hazards that might await 1 “Kalamazoo All Awash! 4-Inch Rainfall Drenches Area,” Kalamazoo Gazette (hereafter KG), 19 April 1975. 2 “Five Area Counties Involved,” KG, 21 April 1975. 82 The Michigan Historical Review occupants returning to flood-damaged homes, including structural damage, gas leaks, and electrical system damage.3 As flooding receded, municipal public works crews and federal disaster teams inspected for damage and assessed the costs. President Ford, himself from southwestern Michigan, declared his home state a major disaster area. Statewide, April’s flooding caused $75 million worth of damage.4 In Kalamazoo, Civil Defense Director Walter Jones estimated $1 million in public costs for township police, fire, patrol, and rescue workers, along with damage to private homes and businesses that equaled or exceeded that amount.5 Perhaps to reassure traumatized residents with long-term perspective, the Gazette ran a follow-up piece—“Flooding a Part of Kalamazoo History”—which showed photographs of past floods and lightheartedly noted that “historically, on occasion, life is ‘goo’ in Kalamazoo.”6 In this article, Kalamazoo serves as an important case history for exploring urban Michigan’s complex relationships with riverine landscapes.7 This is not a story of inevitable environmental degradation resulting from human settlement patterns and intervention in the natural processes of the floodplain.8 Nonetheless, Kalamazoo’s urban flood history does represent persistent conflicts between urban land development rights and a city’s desire to capitalize on its natural wealth, on the one hand, and community and environmental security and sustainability on the other. I begin with a biographical examination of the city and its river, focusing on how people experienced flooding firsthand.9 3 “It Depends on Rainfall,” KG, 23 April 1975; “Dozen Families Flee Homes,” KG, 23 April 1975; “It Spells Trouble! Floods Causing Some Problems, Worries, Unusual Circumstances,” KG, 23 April 1975; “Enter Flooded Home Carefully,” KG, 24 April 1975. 4 “Kalamazoo to Receive Flood Aid,” KG, 28 April 1975. 5 “Water Level Drops,” KG, 25 April 1975. 6 “Flooding a Part of Kalamazoo History,” KG, 26 April 1975. 7 This article is based in part on the author’s doctoral dissertation, “The Urban Midwest’s ‘Dangerous Friends’: At the Confluence of Flooding Rivers, an Environmental Movement, and...