City Officials Taking Feedback About Flooding at Aug. 15 Event
The city wants to hear from residents who were impacted by the June 16-17 or July 9 storms that brought widespread flooding.
Thursday (Aug. 15) from 4-8 p.m. the city will host an open house-style event for residents who were impacted by the flooding to give feedback to city employees. The event will be held at the Hannah Community Center The city will use this feedback to gather data about the recent storms, which will help with planning for future solutions, according to a city’s press release.
“The purpose of this listening session is to hear from the community and to understand their first-hand experiences with flooding this summer. The information that residents share will help us better understand how the City’s storm water system performed during these heavy rain events,” City Manager Robert Belleman is quoted as saying in the press release. “We plan to then share this information with an engineering firm that we are looking to engage. They will assist us in assessing the functionality of our storm water system, especially in light of changing weather patterns.”

The June storm brought 3-4 inches of rain in a short time frame and the July storm brought upwards of 7 inches, according to the city’s press release.
In recent years, the city’s stormwater management system has been overwhelmed by large storms several times, which has led to water coming up through floor drains in basements and street flooding. At a 2022 meeting, it was explained that the sewer system was built to withstand storms up to “10-year storms,” which are storms that should only occur in 10% of years.
“Our sewers, even designed at a 10-year or above design standard, are never going to, I hate to say ‘never,’ [but] are not designed to take on those 100-year storm events,” former Department of Public Works Director Nicole McPherson said.
However, because climate change has made severe weather events more common, these large storms are happening more and more often. This has led to serious damage to East Lansing homes, and residents uncertain if they can put anything of value in their basements.
While next week’s event may be a step in the right direction, it seems like a concrete solution to the problem is far away.
At the July 23 City Council meeting, Councilmember Erik Altmann estimated it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to reengineer the sewer system. At that meeting, he floated drastic measures to combat flooding, like charging residents a stormwater utility or even putting a moratorium on developments in the city until better stormwater management strategies are identified.
To find out more about the Aug. 15 event, read the city’s press release here.