LANSING, Mich. — Just a year ago, large parts of the Capital City and MSU’s campus were under water.
The flooding caused by heavy rain after a stretch of frigid temperatures.
With the ground frozen, the rain water had nowhere to go.
Tonight, similar conditions are a major concern as temperatures rise and rain moves closer to Mid-Michigan.
People who live near rivers no doubt bracing for some flooding overnight.
At the moment, those around riverbeds and floodplains don’t seem too worried.
As of right now, there's no plan to evacuate or start preparing for the worst, but that doesn't mean that flooding won't happen.
"We want people to keep an eye on the river, said Ronda Oberlin, Hazard Mitigation Coordinator for the City of Lansing. "There is ice on it right now, and if the river rises because of the rain, the ice may break up and there may be some localized flooding."
Less than a year after Lansing experienced massive flooding, the capital city could see another rise in water levels, with rain in the forecast, and the ground too frozen to absorb it.
"The difference this year is the length of that spike in temperatures and the amount of rain we're getting.," said Oberlin. "I don't think it'll be anything like last year's."
But that's not stopping residents and businesses from being prepared.
"You never know. I don't think we got as much snow this year as we did last year, and I don't think it'll rain for 2-3 days as heavily as it did," said Steve Spalding, Owner of Ace Cleaners in East Lansing. "I just hope it doesn’t happen again. It was too much work. I still have a back room filled with wet paperwork that I haven't had time to go through to see what's savable and what's not."
Luckily for Spalding and other business owners, things aren't looking as bad as they could be.
"We aren't too concerned about the risk right now, but later on this spring the warm weather's going to come and stay. We'll get rain, the snow's going to melt, we'll have to wait and see what happens then," said Oberlin.
