GRAND RAPIDS, MI – City officials expect the Grand River to crest near the 100-year flood level this weekend. So they’re adding sandbags near the sewage plant, readying extra pumping capacity and, ahem, sharing this bit of advice:

"Shower with a buddy," Mayor George Heartwell said at a Thursday, April 18, press conference in City Hall, which earlier in the day got struck by lightning.

Residents also should avoid doing laundry or running a dishwasher and minimize showers and toilet flushes to ease strain on city sewer infrastructure, he said.

Grandville, which provides sewer service to Hudsonville and Georgetown, Jamestown and Blendon townships, also is asking sewer users to curb water use.

RELATED: Sewage treatment at risk as Grand River rises into 'uncharted territory'

While the river level is above 18 feet now, Grand Rapids expects it will crest Sunday near 25 feet, just below a 25.5-foot 100-year flood level.

“Our flood walls are designed to handle 100-year floods plus a one-foot margin of error,” Heartwell said. “So we don’t expect that the river is going to crest the flood walls, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t already have severe flooding. There will be more.

“The real concern is not the water coming over the flood walls and washing us all away. The real concern is this network of waterways underground throughout the entire city just is not built to handle the capacity that’s coming out of the clouds right now.”

As for a worst-case scenario? Heartwell said the city is taking precautions to prevent flooding at the sewage treatment plant that serves Grand Rapids and several other Kent County communities.

"If the wastewater treatment plant gets inundated, it is not only a horrible inconvenience, but it's a horrendous expense," he said.



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Grand Rapids has issued no evacuation orders, as has neighboring Wyoming. But "we anticipate a much more critical situation Sunday, Monday" as the river crests, City Manager Greg Sundstrom said.

Until then, here’s some advice from the press conference:

Heartwell plans to give daily updates at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday here. Also, he urged people to call 456-3232 to report flooding problems.

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