On April 18, 1975 between 5 p.m. and 12 p.m. Meridian Township, Michigan, experienced an intense rainstorm that caused the red cedar river to overflow its banks resulting in extensive flooding. Damages may be as high as 6.25 million dollars. The drainage area of the red cedar river at the east boundary of the report area (meridian road) is about 315 square miles. At the west boundary (Hagadorn Road) the drainage area is about 355 square miles. Two weeks prior to the storm, about 13 inches of snow fell over most of the red cedar river basin. Subsequent melting caused increased streamflow. The extent of flooding along the red cedar river and pine lake outlet is shown on the photomosaic base maps. Discharge data obtained at East Lansing are equivalent to those at the western boundary of Meridian Township. Discharge is about 10 percent lower at the eastern boundary. The discharge hydrograph for East Lansing shows the peak discharge of 5,940 cfs, which occurred near midnight on April 20. This discharge is equivalent to a runoff of about 17 cfs per square mile of drainage area. The flood had a recurrence interval of about 40 years or about a 2.5 percent chance of occurrence in any year.(WOODARD-USGS)
RECORD ID: 7601584
F&G CODE: 07c; 04a; 02e
Publication
Knutilla, R.L. and Swallow, L.A., Map Showing Flood of April 1975 at Meridian
Township, Michigan: Open-file Report 75-301, 1975. 2 Sheets, 7 Fig, 2 Tab.
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