Patti and Rich Moed pack up items from their home on the 27th floor inside Plaza Towers in Grand Rapids Sunday, April 21, 2013. Rising waters from the Grand River have flooded the building's basement and residents have been evacuated. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Condominium residents in the Forslund Building, located on Pearl Street and the Grand River, were evacuated Saturday night as efforts to stabilize pressure coming from underneath the building began.

Consumers Energy Spokesman Roger Morgenstern on Sunday said water was pumped from the JW Marriott basement into the nearby Forslund Building to help stabilize pressure coming from the rising river. In order to do that, electricity in the building had to be turned off.

The building, in its position along Pearl Street downtown, acts as a city flood wall.

"The idea is to equalize the hydraulic pressure," Morgenstern said, noting stress on the Forslund's foundation.

Morgenstern described the JW Marriott as having an "excellent design" to protect against flooding.

Flooding, evacuation call was 'a pretty big surprise,' Plaza Towers resident says

All three downtown hotels along the river -- the JW Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott and Amway Grand Plaza -- have taken on some basement water as the river has risen to historic levels.

People milled about all along the sidewalk outside the area Sunday afternoon, looking at caution tape draped around the buildings.

The Grand River water level on Sunday had reached 21.79 feet, up from 21.03 feet on Saturday, Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell said at a press conference.

The river is expected to crest at 22.3 feet around 2 a.m. Monday morning, April 22.

That crest level has been revised downward several times from an original 24.76 feet due, in part, to a lack of rainfall over the past few days.

Forslund Building residents likely will be evacuated for several days until the river is at a safe level.

Heartwell asked anyone coming downtown to view the river to park at least five blocks away to make room for any utility or emergency vehicles that may need to get through.