Why weren't B93 car owners warned?

IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) - City manager Jason Eppler was vague about new questions raised regarding the cause of the Ionia County Fairgrounds mess in which more than 1,000 cars have been stranded in flood and mud since Saturday.

Forecasters issued two flood advisories for Ionia at 5 a.m. and around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, National Weather Service official Mark Walton told 24 Hour News 8. He said forecasters also had a phone conversation with the Ionia emergency manager around that same time.

The first advisory indicated the Grand River would crest at around 15 feet, and the second advisory made a new prediction of cresting at around 17 feet, Walton said.

But at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Eppler would not directly answer questions about why those forecasts did not alarm city officials enough to evacuate the cars, which started parking in the fairgrounds lot at around 8 a.m.

"Let me say, there have been a lot of questions asked about this," he said. "I can tell you that there will be a lot of discussions as we work through to find answers to those questions."

According to B93 radio manager Tim Feagan, the promoter of the event that drew thousands to the venue, there were discussions starting at around 10:30 a.m. as water was rising noticeably, but by 11:30 a.m., the water was over an access road, so they were forced to stop parking cars there.

B93 officials tried to beat the rising water by dumping gravel on the access road in an effort to get the cars out, but the water was rising too fast, Feagan said.

The water was rising at a rate of 6 inches an hour, according to the National Weather Service.