COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — With water levels between 13 and 14 feet high, portions of the Grand River and spilling onto the Abrigador Trail.
The National Weather Service (NWS) anticipates the river cresting between Wednesday and Thursday at 13.8 feet high.
"They just dropped it to 13.8, but I think it’ll go to 13.9," said Bruce Ling, Grand River water gauge keeper for NWS.
Ling has lived along the Grand River for almost 30 years. He's experienced flooding before and lost his home to flood damage in 2013. Ling said spending his life on the water has prepared him for the flooding.
"27 years living down here on the Grand River has taught me a lot," he said.
He and his wife, along with most others on the trail, have small boats they store for when water levels get high.
"Everybody owns boats, except the two new [neighbors]," he explained.
Ling uses either a motor or paddles to get himself from his home to West River Drive, just up the road from where the flooding starts. He said it's important to take things slow and careful on the water to not create a wake.
"I don’t want this wake washing up on people’s property, [it] might blow out a garage door or a basement window," he said.
He said most of his neighbors know better than to drive on the water but said others in the city who drive to see the flood often get trapped in it.
"It’s these rubberneckers coming down here in big wheel trucks to check out the flood, and they come tearing down this road real fast," Ling said.
He recommends safely boating to dry roads when possible and using weighters to walk through the shallow water.
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