According to State Journal archives, Friday, April 18, 1975, brought a spring storm that dumped between 2.3 to 5 inches of rain on the Lansing area, causing the Grand River to swell to 15.3 feet – four feet above flood stage – and the Red Cedar river to crest at 13 feet, six feet above flood stage.
The ensuing floods resulted in three deaths, while 800 families were evacuated from their homes. The State Journal reported one 66-year-old Howell man was found dead in five feet of flood water after his car slid down an embankment and into a ditch. A 17-year-old boy and 23-year-old man drowned while rafting near the Dimondale dam and were pulled underwater by the current.
Police boats and a helicopter were dispatched to patrol the flooded streets, help with evacuations and prevent looting. Four bridges were washed away in Eaton County, 50 percent of homes in Williamston were at least partially flooded and Meridian Township was described in the State Journal as a “virtual island.”
The 1975 flood was declared to be the worst since 1947, when 2.5 inches of rain in 24 hours sent the Grand River surging to 16.9 feet. The Lansing area’s worst recorded flood was in March 1904, when the Grand River crested at around 20 feet.
Source : “From the archives: Last major flood to hit Lansing comparable to Detroit deluge”, Lansing State Journal, August 13, 2014.