First off, Saturday police had to shut down the fairgrounds due to it being full, having to turn away bunches of disappointed fans. Then after heavy rainfall on Friday night and early Saturday, the Grand River began flooding, leaving hundreds stranded when their cars were too submerged to be removed from their parking spots. Officials canceled Sunday's performances and said in a press conference on Sunday morning that it may be Wednesday before the stranded cars can be retrieved. About 130 people ended up at an emergency Red Cross station at a local middle school.
The shelter has food, water and other provisions for people who have no way to leave the concert venue after being asked to abandon their cars in the grass parking lots near the county fairground
The concert-goers became stranded at the Ionia County fairgrounds after a stretch of the Grand River rose Saturday, cutting off exits to parking area for thousands.
It's the sixth time since Christmas the Ionia County fairgrounds have flooded.
Dozens of medical personnel responded, and over a dozen people have been treated for minor injuries. Search teams are combing the area to make sure no one is lost.
Sounds like a very memorable birthday bash. Despite the weather and flood problems, B93 has a ton of awesome pictures and videos you can check out here. Mlive also has a great set of pictures here.
Just glad to hear everyone was relatively unscathed and I'm sure they'll all be talking about 2009's flooded birthday for years to come.
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Comments (18)
in the afternoon till 12:56 at night n ended up walkin through water up to my chest. im not complaining about a car that can be replaced our lives cant be replaced. grow up and quit complaining
Item: vehicles abandoned and submerged in the Grand River floodplain
Question:
Why is this situation not being addressed by the DEQ. These vehicles are sitting submerged in the flood plain of the largest River in the state, and are leaching gas, diesel, transmission fluid, grease, and oil into the Grand River. This needs to be monitored immediately, and any contingency plans for such contamination should be implemented.
Thank you,
Bruce Ling
Board of Directors: Grand Rapids Water Festival
Volunteer: West MI Environmental Action Council
Team Leader: WMEAC Stream Search
Hawks and Owls string band
THE CITY OF IONIA AND B-93 NEW THAT THE RIVER WAS RISING.
This could have been avoided. I hope most people's cars are in decent shape. And for the unlucky dozen who may never get to drive their car again...I hope you put up a good fight.
previous concerts? This is only making more of a mess of an already hectic concert as is. This
is a mistake that is going unchecked in all of this. How many lives and incidents will it take
them to realize this?
Illegal drugs, I saw plenty of them in the stands. The smell of whatever it was, I believe it was
pot, was a nuisance. Underage drinking, the wrist bands were taken off and put on underage kids
to go and get drinks from the vendors with no ID checks. Saw at least 4 come back with cups full
of beer. They were checking bags, but they were doing a really who cares job about it.
They knew FULLY well beforehand that this would happen. Flash flood warnings and all signs
including the river rising and already flooded areas before the concert even begun. The people
who trusted the officials to be good planners were naive to an extent, but those out of state and
not from the area which a lot of them are, do you check ahead for weather conditions before
entering an area? Not just the forecast, I have never.
Warnings, they should have told us sooner, much sooner. Cars were starting underwater at about
11:00PM or so. The first actual warning went out at about 2-3PM which it was simply too late to
get out at that point, 4x4 or not really, a lot of trucks were stuck in traffic.
Their complete reaction and response was uncaring and frankly rude. I can understand that
someones car could be trashed and it is what it is, but for the DK guys and B93 guys to respond
the way they did and still ARE TODAY is ridiculous. I very calmy talked to a DK guy today and
asked him a simple question if the river rose at all, he said I can't answer that. Did the river
rise or not? The B93 hummer was blocking the exit and Neil got out in his shorts, lifted them up
like a pansy, and waded through to see how deep it was before the hummer went through. The whole
ordeal took about 15 minutes where people were shouting for them to move.
Order was out of hand too. Alcohol being served onsite was the first problem here. I saw a guy
get tased by police due to it. A Ford Explorer was driving through the mud water with a drunk guy
hinging off the hitch trying to water ski. Sounds funny, but when the cop told him to back up the
guy almost got ran over if it wasn't for the crowd yelling. Cop let him drive with his beer and
all right off to go an potentially kill someone on the road. The same idiot that was trying to
water ski was on the mound of gravel as the dump trucks were moving in. The same idiot driving
almost hit a Ford Tauras where the cars were parked.
This is ridiculous and B93, DK, and Ionia free fair should be ashamed of themselves. I respect
the people who have kept a calm attitude in all of this very much, but to lay back and to say they
did everything they could is simply not true. They should NEVER have another concert until all of
these issues have been addressed and with proper oversight. I mean not for this post to calm
across as I'm over exaggerating the facts or not telling the truth or even really angry. I am
angry, but in a constructive and first-hand experience type of way. People need to take this
experience and use it as a firm lesson on trusting people, planning, and oversight.
Pam
FOR THERE DAM. THE FACTS ARE THAT THE FLOOD WATER DID NOT COME FROM ABOVE LYONS DAM WHERE THERE HYDRO-ELECTRIC DAM IS LOCATED THE WATER ENTERED THE GRAND RIVER FROM THE MAPLE RIVER AT MUIR. WHAT LITTLE WATER THAT HAS BEEN RELEASED IN NO WAY FLOODED THE ( FLOOD PLAIN ) PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS COMPLETELY STRAIGHT.