After 61 days (31 above major flood stage), the Red River has finally dropped below flood stage of 18 feet. The flood stage was set at 18 feet following the 2006 flood. Prior to that, flood stage had been 17 feet and thus we have another foot to go by the old standard. 17 feet made sense: it was level with the top of the mid-town dam which we drive by going to church and it is even with the bike path by the El Zagel bowl near our home. Now I have to recalibrate.
Speaking of long floods, we've had quite a few long floods in the last decade:
2009 61 consecutive days above flood stage
2006 54 days
2007 45 days
1997 45 days
2005 43 days
2001 42 days
No wonder the biking-along-the-river season seems so short. I think the bike/ped bridges at Oak Grove and Lindenwood will get lowered once the river reaches 16 feet. The Oak Grove bridge is critical for us to bike to the Moorhead Dairy Queen. Other than a quick ride in fron of the house after pumping up the tires, I haven't done any biking yet. Maybe this coming weekend...
Driving home from work tonight, El Zagel golf course was being irrigated where new grass was needed. Taking compost to our recycling depot tonight, all the ball fields near Jack Williams field were being reseeded after being submerged during the flood. Seems like T-ball, Little League, Legion Ball etc should be starting well before the grass is established. There are also some clay dikes still standing in the vicinity.
Showing posts with label Fargo flood 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fargo flood 2009. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
In which spring arrives and the dikes come down...
May has arrived as has spring. It warmed up a week ago - briefly - so we had our first day about 70 and also our first day above 80: all on the same day. It felt really weird in my winter coat as I walked from office to car. A cold front moved through in the evening and its been back in the 30s to 50s since. We've had some rain, lots of wind, and the grass has greened up. Trees are starting to leaf and my tree pollen allergies seem to be kicking in.
The Red River dropped below major flood stage, 30 feet, last weekend. The clay dike on the street north of our house came down yesterday after six weeks. It looks like it will be a few more weeks before flooded golf courses open and bike trails along the river can be used. Last weekend I did do the seasonal garage shift: shovels and sleds are up and bikes are down. Other than a short ride to check operation after pumping up tires, I haven't done any bike riding.
Our gas grill is back in use. Yum. The heating elements and dispersion parts are heavily warn, so we are in the market for a replacement. Research is pretty much done, so it's a matter of matching features with a good price. It has been too cool/windy to eat outside. Better outdoor eating could come next week, but I'll be in Moline where it should be very pleasant. I'll probably take a walk around the John Deere headquarters campus at lunch or before supper as my meeting schedule permits. I've been walking with coworkers at lunch time several days each of the last two weeks.
The Red River dropped below major flood stage, 30 feet, last weekend. The clay dike on the street north of our house came down yesterday after six weeks. It looks like it will be a few more weeks before flooded golf courses open and bike trails along the river can be used. Last weekend I did do the seasonal garage shift: shovels and sleds are up and bikes are down. Other than a short ride to check operation after pumping up tires, I haven't done any bike riding.
Our gas grill is back in use. Yum. The heating elements and dispersion parts are heavily warn, so we are in the market for a replacement. Research is pretty much done, so it's a matter of matching features with a good price. It has been too cool/windy to eat outside. Better outdoor eating could come next week, but I'll be in Moline where it should be very pleasant. I'll probably take a walk around the John Deere headquarters campus at lunch or before supper as my meeting schedule permits. I've been walking with coworkers at lunch time several days each of the last two weeks.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
In which the 2nd crest of the Red and problems on the Sheyenne are noted...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original posting to see the pictures.
The second crest of the Red River came and went this week at between 34 and 35 feet. More on that later.
The big news has been the record flooding on the Sheyenne River which is shown in magenta on the map above from Wikipedia. Valley City, which has been in the news, is 60 miles (100 km) west of Fargo on the river. The Sheyenne enters the Red River north of Fargo and flows through the city of West Fargo which is protected by a diversion which has worked well this year. Rural areas southwest and northwest of Fargo have experienced severe flooding though.
As I've mentioned in previous entries, risks during a flood come from the river flowing overland, seepage from the ground, and sewer backups. Valley City had been holding its own against the river, but then a sewer main collapsed and river water started flowing through the sewer system. There was a report of sewage shooting up 8 feet (1.6 m) through floor drains in basements. Buildings were flooded with sewage, water service was cut off, and something like 80% of the city evacuated. The situation is coming under control, but disruptions are likely to last 3+ weeks as the flood passes and permanent repairs are made.
The flooding Sheyenne can cause problems, as it did in the flood of 1997, when it overflows its watershed and flood waters get into the Wild Rice River watershed. The Wild Rice is the river in the map which is to the south and to the east of the Sheyenne. It enters the Red River south, UPSTREAM, from Fargo and would contribute to Fargo flooding.
This was the golf course north of my home today. A couple of big pumps were running to pump water back over the dike and into the river so the course can be prepared for play.
This is how the same area looked a day after the first crest: The water is higher and covered with ice. The dike is lower.
This is 12th Ave N looking East from Elm Street the day after the first crest. The river level is about 40 feet which was 6 inches higher than the 1997 crest. The location is half a block south and two blocks east of my home. In 1997 this area was not diked at all and I remember walking up to the water's edge at the crest.
This is the same stretch of dike today. The snow is gone and the river is 8-10 feet lower and much further away. After the first crest, there were predictions that the second crest would be as high or higher than the first crest. Primary dikes were raised to 44 feet. Thankfully we didn't get heavy rain and the actual 2nd crest on Thursday came in at 34-35 feet. The river is now slowly falling and should reach 30 feet next weekend. After the river drops below 30 feet, many of the temporary primary dikes will start coming down. Contingency dikes will start coming down this week.
This is the heightened dike a block and a half north of my home. Assuming it's top is at 44 feet, the primary crest at 41 feet is at my knees and the main floor of our house at 43 feet is at my stomach.
These two dozers are a couple blocks east of the last picture and give another perspective of the size of the dikes in my neighborhood.
The 2nd crest predictions dropped steadily the starting about 10 days ago such that I felt comfortable enought to leave town for a business trip. Noting that the forecasts had changed quickly upward for the first crest, I didn't park my minivan at the airport, preferring it be in our garage where it would be easier for my wife to move to a higher location, if necessary.
The second crest of the Red River came and went this week at between 34 and 35 feet. More on that later.
The big news has been the record flooding on the Sheyenne River which is shown in magenta on the map above from Wikipedia. Valley City, which has been in the news, is 60 miles (100 km) west of Fargo on the river. The Sheyenne enters the Red River north of Fargo and flows through the city of West Fargo which is protected by a diversion which has worked well this year. Rural areas southwest and northwest of Fargo have experienced severe flooding though.As I've mentioned in previous entries, risks during a flood come from the river flowing overland, seepage from the ground, and sewer backups. Valley City had been holding its own against the river, but then a sewer main collapsed and river water started flowing through the sewer system. There was a report of sewage shooting up 8 feet (1.6 m) through floor drains in basements. Buildings were flooded with sewage, water service was cut off, and something like 80% of the city evacuated. The situation is coming under control, but disruptions are likely to last 3+ weeks as the flood passes and permanent repairs are made.
The flooding Sheyenne can cause problems, as it did in the flood of 1997, when it overflows its watershed and flood waters get into the Wild Rice River watershed. The Wild Rice is the river in the map which is to the south and to the east of the Sheyenne. It enters the Red River south, UPSTREAM, from Fargo and would contribute to Fargo flooding.
This was the golf course north of my home today. A couple of big pumps were running to pump water back over the dike and into the river so the course can be prepared for play. 
This is how the same area looked a day after the first crest: The water is higher and covered with ice. The dike is lower. This is 12th Ave N looking East from Elm Street the day after the first crest. The river level is about 40 feet which was 6 inches higher than the 1997 crest. The location is half a block south and two blocks east of my home. In 1997 this area was not diked at all and I remember walking up to the water's edge at the crest.
This is the same stretch of dike today. The snow is gone and the river is 8-10 feet lower and much further away. After the first crest, there were predictions that the second crest would be as high or higher than the first crest. Primary dikes were raised to 44 feet. Thankfully we didn't get heavy rain and the actual 2nd crest on Thursday came in at 34-35 feet. The river is now slowly falling and should reach 30 feet next weekend. After the river drops below 30 feet, many of the temporary primary dikes will start coming down. Contingency dikes will start coming down this week. This is the heightened dike a block and a half north of my home. Assuming it's top is at 44 feet, the primary crest at 41 feet is at my knees and the main floor of our house at 43 feet is at my stomach.
These two dozers are a couple blocks east of the last picture and give another perspective of the size of the dikes in my neighborhood.The 2nd crest predictions dropped steadily the starting about 10 days ago such that I felt comfortable enought to leave town for a business trip. Noting that the forecasts had changed quickly upward for the first crest, I didn't park my minivan at the airport, preferring it be in our garage where it would be easier for my wife to move to a higher location, if necessary.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
In which this blogger gets a pardon from the governor...
At least that's how a tabloid would report what happened this sunny spring day. About 11:30 a couple co-workers and I headed south across campus to the recently opened Sandella's Flatbread Cafe for lunch. While we were eating, the governor of North Dakota walked in with a couple other gentlemen, ordered, and was talking while waiting for his order. We were getting ready to leave, so I dumped my trash and went to refill my Diet Dr Pepper before leaving. On my way, the space was small between the governor and another person. I said "Excuse me" and walked on by. That was my pardon. I don't know if he even heard me since he was facing the other direction when I went by. Gotta love living in a small population state where government officials are casually encountered at restaurants, the airport, at work, etc.
As for Sandella's, it was crowded and the line was slow when we were there at noon. Ambience is good. Menu has nice variety and the food is good. My only complaint is that the portions were small for the price. It is in the same class of restaurants as Panera and includes wraps, flatbread pizzas, paninis, salads, and soups on the menu.
The river continued its lazy fall, still scheduled to end this weekend and return to a 1-2 feet/day rise next week until ???? Fargo's dikes were to be shored up by now, so it is a matter of waiting.
Yesterday my wife took lunch to a crew that was tearing down sheetrock in the basement of friends' home which had succumbed to the first crest. My wife and daughters bought new rubber boots today, on sale for $15/pair at Talbots. Tonight we went to Happy Harry's wine tasting and penny sale to increase the amount of potable fluids on hand in case the water supply is compromised. We probably would have restocked even without a second crest coming given the prices near $5/bottle :-) .
For those who are curious on selection:
* Lindeman's Bin 50 Shiraz
* Funf Reisling
* Carl Sittman Riesling
* A "raspberry champaign" whose name I don't recall
Rieslings are a wine both my wife and I like. It is typically served with Papa Murphy's pizza or speghetti.
As for Sandella's, it was crowded and the line was slow when we were there at noon. Ambience is good. Menu has nice variety and the food is good. My only complaint is that the portions were small for the price. It is in the same class of restaurants as Panera and includes wraps, flatbread pizzas, paninis, salads, and soups on the menu.
The river continued its lazy fall, still scheduled to end this weekend and return to a 1-2 feet/day rise next week until ???? Fargo's dikes were to be shored up by now, so it is a matter of waiting.
Yesterday my wife took lunch to a crew that was tearing down sheetrock in the basement of friends' home which had succumbed to the first crest. My wife and daughters bought new rubber boots today, on sale for $15/pair at Talbots. Tonight we went to Happy Harry's wine tasting and penny sale to increase the amount of potable fluids on hand in case the water supply is compromised. We probably would have restocked even without a second crest coming given the prices near $5/bottle :-) .
For those who are curious on selection:
* Lindeman's Bin 50 Shiraz
* Funf Reisling
* Carl Sittman Riesling
* A "raspberry champaign" whose name I don't recall
Rieslings are a wine both my wife and I like. It is typically served with Papa Murphy's pizza or speghetti.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
In which there is some good news...
Another shorter entry tonight as I continue to try to get caught up on bills, church stuff, etc following the events of March.
The river continues to drop, but a warming trend is underway which will melt the snow fueling the second crest. The good news is that earlier in the week, the National Weather Service lowered the crest prediction a couple feet to the 38-40 foot range. While this seems comfortably low now, the second crest should rate in the top 4 crests in Fargo history along with the first crest of 2009, 1897, and 1997. As I joked with a Facebook friend, "40 feet is the new "low"". I'm happy because 40 feet is lower than the street in front of my house.
Of course the crest predictions in March weren't terribly steady and were revised upward on short notice in the week prior to the first crest. We appearently got credit for no new rain and not much rain in the forecast. None-the-less, Fargo and Moorhead are firming up dikes to the 43-44 foot level. They were doing that last night north of my house as I was coming home from work. Driving along side the dike tonight, it was noticeably higher (44 feet?) and thicker.
Since it is 3 weeks between the first and second crests, I wonder what our prospects of a third crest is. Rain will be the key variable in late April and early May. A year or two ago, the river was above flood stage for several months and we had 5-6 crests. Crests in the 20s are a lot different than crests in the 35-45 foot range! The main issue in the 20s is that the bike paths along the river were under water well into the summer.
The river continues to drop, but a warming trend is underway which will melt the snow fueling the second crest. The good news is that earlier in the week, the National Weather Service lowered the crest prediction a couple feet to the 38-40 foot range. While this seems comfortably low now, the second crest should rate in the top 4 crests in Fargo history along with the first crest of 2009, 1897, and 1997. As I joked with a Facebook friend, "40 feet is the new "low"". I'm happy because 40 feet is lower than the street in front of my house.
Of course the crest predictions in March weren't terribly steady and were revised upward on short notice in the week prior to the first crest. We appearently got credit for no new rain and not much rain in the forecast. None-the-less, Fargo and Moorhead are firming up dikes to the 43-44 foot level. They were doing that last night north of my house as I was coming home from work. Driving along side the dike tonight, it was noticeably higher (44 feet?) and thicker.
Since it is 3 weeks between the first and second crests, I wonder what our prospects of a third crest is. Rain will be the key variable in late April and early May. A year or two ago, the river was above flood stage for several months and we had 5-6 crests. Crests in the 20s are a lot different than crests in the 35-45 foot range! The main issue in the 20s is that the bike paths along the river were under water well into the summer.
Monday, April 6, 2009
In which steps are taken forward but gloom lingers...
One of my favorite scenes in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is when the computer Hal predicts a communications antenna failure in 72 hours with no explanation. The crew of the spaceship Discovery works with mission control to try to figure out why it is going to fail and end up deciding to wait until it does fail. From that point on, things do not go well for the crew.
The National Weather Service had not said much about why they predicted a 41-44+ foot crest between April 15 and 22. Today a friend pointed me to a web page with more background on the current prediction for an annual event, but as an amateur soil and water modeler, I want to know more: what data are they using and what are they doing with it. I've been tempted to develop my own flood prediction model using archived weather data, river levels, and the Palmer draught index. I've got too much to do to undertake that task just now.
I've wondered what the 1897 (former top flood) Fargoans would have made of our situation had it been theirs. Without satellites and computers and flood models and weather models, would they have been heavily engaged in clean up only to be washed away again by a second crest? The river has been going down so nicely...
Fargo Moorhead schools and the three universities were back in session today. That was a good step towards normalcy. Tomorrow we get our garbage picked up for the first time in three weeks. That is welcomed. Today work began to raise the dikes another foot to 44 feet. That provided a bit of gloom on an otherwise brightly sunny, but cool with a brisk north wind day.
The National Weather Service had not said much about why they predicted a 41-44+ foot crest between April 15 and 22. Today a friend pointed me to a web page with more background on the current prediction for an annual event, but as an amateur soil and water modeler, I want to know more: what data are they using and what are they doing with it. I've been tempted to develop my own flood prediction model using archived weather data, river levels, and the Palmer draught index. I've got too much to do to undertake that task just now.
I've wondered what the 1897 (former top flood) Fargoans would have made of our situation had it been theirs. Without satellites and computers and flood models and weather models, would they have been heavily engaged in clean up only to be washed away again by a second crest? The river has been going down so nicely...
Fargo Moorhead schools and the three universities were back in session today. That was a good step towards normalcy. Tomorrow we get our garbage picked up for the first time in three weeks. That is welcomed. Today work began to raise the dikes another foot to 44 feet. That provided a bit of gloom on an otherwise brightly sunny, but cool with a brisk north wind day.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
In which the social fabric of Fargo is contemplated...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original post to see pictures.
Yesterday got full. I started with a church board meeting, spent the afternoon following up from the meeting, worked on some personal finance, and then my wife and daughters got back from South Dakota where they had been visiting family the last few days. One of the interesting parts of their trip was meeting Fargo flood evacuees who were staying at the senior living place my mother-in-law lives at in Sioux Falls, SD. Today started with church, then lunch at Qdoba's, buying my wife's Mother's Day gift (digital camera), and now I'm finally back to blogging.
At the board meeting yesterday, we spent some time talking about the first crest and what should be done to prepare for the second one. One of the things which strengthens the fabric of Fargo is the strong groups outside of government. Take, for example, Salem, the church family I am part of and in which I've had a leadership role for fourteen years.
The city did overall coordination of activities. Needs of homeowners and resources of volunteers cleared through an organization called FirstLink, which Salem helps fund. Churches, schools, employers etc also provided clearing of needs and resources. Several times a day, Salem sent out emails indicating who needed help and when. There was also much coordinated at the small group level. Besides labor for filling and placing sandbags, some people prepared food which was delivered to the sites to keep the workers energized. Some people provided childcare to free up others to work on the front lines. Some people provided trucks or garden tractors and trailers to haul sandbags from bagging stations to individual homes.
This picture is one of the home dikes with significant Salem labor (and some Salem men standing on it). If you look carefully, you can see some of the sandbags filled by my family ;-) . Once the dikes were completed and the water was up on them, people would help by taking a shift of watching for problems and keeping the sump pumps fueled.
Yesterday got full. I started with a church board meeting, spent the afternoon following up from the meeting, worked on some personal finance, and then my wife and daughters got back from South Dakota where they had been visiting family the last few days. One of the interesting parts of their trip was meeting Fargo flood evacuees who were staying at the senior living place my mother-in-law lives at in Sioux Falls, SD. Today started with church, then lunch at Qdoba's, buying my wife's Mother's Day gift (digital camera), and now I'm finally back to blogging.
At the board meeting yesterday, we spent some time talking about the first crest and what should be done to prepare for the second one. One of the things which strengthens the fabric of Fargo is the strong groups outside of government. Take, for example, Salem, the church family I am part of and in which I've had a leadership role for fourteen years.
The city did overall coordination of activities. Needs of homeowners and resources of volunteers cleared through an organization called FirstLink, which Salem helps fund. Churches, schools, employers etc also provided clearing of needs and resources. Several times a day, Salem sent out emails indicating who needed help and when. There was also much coordinated at the small group level. Besides labor for filling and placing sandbags, some people prepared food which was delivered to the sites to keep the workers energized. Some people provided childcare to free up others to work on the front lines. Some people provided trucks or garden tractors and trailers to haul sandbags from bagging stations to individual homes.
This picture is one of the home dikes with significant Salem labor (and some Salem men standing on it). If you look carefully, you can see some of the sandbags filled by my family ;-) . Once the dikes were completed and the water was up on them, people would help by taking a shift of watching for problems and keeping the sump pumps fueled.
As my posts have indicated, what one did on a given day depended on the personal availability and the current needs of the city and of individuals. There has been a fair amount of circularity in this, making a mesh of help. In the picture above, taken while my wife and daughters are on break at the Fargodome, they are being served by a friend from Salem, the food is provided through the Salvation Army, and the food is purchased through payroll deduction to United Way -> Salvation Army from my paycheck. Yesterday on the news there was a story of a woman who had lost her home to the flood and was being assisted by the Salvation Army. She had been a bell ringer for the Salvation Army to raise funds for it last Christmas.
This social fabric of interlocking strands is a distinctive of Fargo and has been critical through the first crest, during the flood of 1997, and at other less trying times. In general, people don't rely on the government to solve all their problems and take action to see that the community succeeeds even if they are not directly in harms way. If I don't get involved somehow, who will help my friends and neighbors? There aren't enough city employees and guardsman to do it all.
So as we gear up for Crest 2.0, one of the things I am doing is helping Salem improve it's communications and preparedness for what is coming so our church family is in a position for greater service with higher projected crest....
Friday, April 3, 2009
In which it felt like winter and a chilling prediction was made...
I'm maker a shorter post again tonight. I'm trying to get ready for a church board meeting tomorrow and will continue working on catch-up.
With a foot of snow and a +15 F (-10 C) temperature this morning, it sure didn't feel like spring or April. It did reach +38 F (4 C) this afternoon, but 240 miles (400 km) to the south in Sioux Falls SD, it was +58 F (13 C). It will start warming up slowly for a true spring melt, but that is the subject of the chilling news.
The National Weather Service updated its crest #2 flood forecast today. It is scheduled for mid-April with a 75% chance it will get as high as it did last Saturday (41 feet) and a 25% chance it will get to 43 feet or higher. Recall that 43 feet is my front door, if there is no dike holding the river back. The mayor of Fargo believes the likely crest #2 is 38 feet, but that is based on 40+ years of flood fighting and not weather and water models. I'm with the mayor on the likely case.
The good news is that crest #2 is over a week off. The worst case is a rapid melt with heavy rain. The weather many will be praying for is mild and dry - melt the snow, but not all at once. We also have some good news in that the current storm system is staying well to the south of the Red River Valley.
I'll end today with a music video with a song about the '09 flood by a local musical group.
With a foot of snow and a +15 F (-10 C) temperature this morning, it sure didn't feel like spring or April. It did reach +38 F (4 C) this afternoon, but 240 miles (400 km) to the south in Sioux Falls SD, it was +58 F (13 C). It will start warming up slowly for a true spring melt, but that is the subject of the chilling news.
The National Weather Service updated its crest #2 flood forecast today. It is scheduled for mid-April with a 75% chance it will get as high as it did last Saturday (41 feet) and a 25% chance it will get to 43 feet or higher. Recall that 43 feet is my front door, if there is no dike holding the river back. The mayor of Fargo believes the likely crest #2 is 38 feet, but that is based on 40+ years of flood fighting and not weather and water models. I'm with the mayor on the likely case.
The good news is that crest #2 is over a week off. The worst case is a rapid melt with heavy rain. The weather many will be praying for is mild and dry - melt the snow, but not all at once. We also have some good news in that the current storm system is staying well to the south of the Red River Valley.
I'll end today with a music video with a song about the '09 flood by a local musical group.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
In which Noel tries to get caught up....
Tonight will be a shorter post. I want to write longer about technology, the community coming together, and some memories from the 1997 flood. That will need to be this weekend since I'm behind on both home and office fronts and want to use tonight to tackle the home front.
The Shriners building I wrote about last night has more of the military barracks look. There is a bus and a good number of Humvees out front. The ice is coming off the lake which was a golf course. It was sunny and bright today, so our snow is melting. People are starting to collect the bills from the flood for submission to FEMA, insurance companies, etc.
Latest 7 day flood forecast shows the river dropping half a foot a day through next Thursday when it will be 31 feet - still in major flood category. No indication of the crest #2 prediction.
The Shriners building I wrote about last night has more of the military barracks look. There is a bus and a good number of Humvees out front. The ice is coming off the lake which was a golf course. It was sunny and bright today, so our snow is melting. People are starting to collect the bills from the flood for submission to FEMA, insurance companies, etc.
Latest 7 day flood forecast shows the river dropping half a foot a day through next Thursday when it will be 31 feet - still in major flood category. No indication of the crest #2 prediction.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
In which full commerce resumes and the unimaginable is contemplated...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original post to see the pictures.
The "non-essential" stores which had been closed for the last 4-5 days to reduce traffic and allow employees to fight the flood reopened today. Contingency dikes were made passable to cars so people could get to work. People who had been evacuated were allowed back to where they lived.
Last night daughter L had a friend from South Moorhead come and spend the night. A few days ago when evacuation could have come come at any time, separating families was not a comfortable situation. With lots of wet snow and no school, the girls went out and built our second annual snow bunny. Last night I caught another mouse, so am leading the mousing competition 2-0 over our cat, Manfred. Tonight, regular Wednesday night church activities are being held.
A good joke from the morning flood briefing was that the stress and adrenalin from the flood were causing people to do things like smoke for the first time in 15 years. To help people come down from the high flood adrenalin levels, there is a now a sand patch (sandpaper held in place with duct tape) to help people overcome their sandbagging addiction. researchers had also looked a sandbag addiction gum, but it was rather gritty.
A rapid response station appeared four blocks from our house. I think the National Guard had moved out of a school and into the Shriner's building. There was not a great angle for taking pictures. From left to right in the picture, there is part of a pile of clay which is blocking the view of a semi-trailer with a bulldozer and a second semi-trailer with a camoflaged excavator. Finally, a white truck is pulling a trailer with two Bobcat skid-steer loaders.
On the other side of the Shriner's parking lot, there are four dump trucks and a front end loader. If a section of dike were to break, as happed near this location last week and at Oak Grove School, National Guardsmen would jump in the trucks and race to the scene of the problem.
With March done, we note that we set a new record for precipitation, melted snow and rain, of 4.62 inches (11.5 cm) which broke the old record of 2.83 inches (7 cm) set in 1882. The winter has had about 80 inches (2 m) of snow, putting it 4th highest in recorded history. Today was a day to be thankful as the river continued to drop and the city moved from high alert to alert status. In a not to different set of circumstances, a bit more rain on Monday or temperatures a few degrees higher which would have meant rain instead of snow, the river may have reached 42-43 feet.
In that scenario, if a dike had broken in our area, my home could have been an island. Today might have been the first day we got off the island. Hopefully the gate valve and flap valve would have kept the sewage out. We had 5 gallon pails and hand sanitizer to use in place of our bathrooms sinc eshutting the gate valve would mean no sewage leaving or entering. If time permitted, I might have taken a toilet seat from one of our bathrooms and mounted it on some wood between sawhorses to make a more familiar seating situation.
If the dike at the water treatment plant had failed, or back syphonage from homes had contaminated the drinking water, we had enough water, juice, and pop to last our family about a week. I also had plans to get a store of water, maybe in the five gallon pails, to have on hand for washing and other general needs.
The harder thing to lose would have been electricity. As has happened in some of the rural areas, when the power has gone out, equipment has not been able to get into flooded areas to make repairs. We would have lost our sump pump, the blower for the furnace and HEAT, our stove, computers, lighting etc. We have some gas in our grill from last summer. It would have been miserable for general living, but we would have stayed here to manually keep the sump from overflowing and flooding the basement.
At 42 feet we were set up to to be without water, sewer, and electricity for up to a week. Water at 43 feet, where our basement would be flooded through the egress windows and where possibly on our main level would be flooded, still seems unimaginable. The unbelief for me and others in this flat city is that for my house to be flooded at 43 feet, almost all the city would have to be flooded. That would require a tremendous amount of water beyond what we had. After the floods of 1882 and 1897, it was 100 years before the river got that high, and not as high as 1897. Yet 12 years after 1997, we set a new record and the climate is changing.
There is an academic element to this concern: what parameter(s) would need to be changed for the 43 foot crest? I'm not going to build a ring dike around my house at the 45 foot level, but there is the issue of flood insurance which we've never had because we live outside the 500 year flood plain and 43 feet is unimaginable. In 1997, when we had 120 inches (3.1 m) of snow, the idea of a record flood seemed pretty reasonable, but the river crested at under 40 feet.
This winter, we quickly went from severe, but manageable flooding to epic flooding in about a week. Flood insurance does not take affect until 30 days after it is purchased which would have done no good this year. The other approach is to buy it every year, but we may never see a flood like this again especially if Fargo gets funds for a permanent flood mitigation like Grand Forks got after the 1997 flood. Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada built a diversion after the 1952 flood and has not had major problems since. West fargo has a diversion from the Sheyenne River and was pretty problem free this year.
So that's the $100,000 question (self-insured, but the river reaches 43 feet and does major damage) or the $30,000 question (insured, but never needed for many years): will we ever see a 43 foot crest?
The "non-essential" stores which had been closed for the last 4-5 days to reduce traffic and allow employees to fight the flood reopened today. Contingency dikes were made passable to cars so people could get to work. People who had been evacuated were allowed back to where they lived.
Last night daughter L had a friend from South Moorhead come and spend the night. A few days ago when evacuation could have come come at any time, separating families was not a comfortable situation. With lots of wet snow and no school, the girls went out and built our second annual snow bunny. Last night I caught another mouse, so am leading the mousing competition 2-0 over our cat, Manfred. Tonight, regular Wednesday night church activities are being held.
A good joke from the morning flood briefing was that the stress and adrenalin from the flood were causing people to do things like smoke for the first time in 15 years. To help people come down from the high flood adrenalin levels, there is a now a sand patch (sandpaper held in place with duct tape) to help people overcome their sandbagging addiction. researchers had also looked a sandbag addiction gum, but it was rather gritty.
A rapid response station appeared four blocks from our house. I think the National Guard had moved out of a school and into the Shriner's building. There was not a great angle for taking pictures. From left to right in the picture, there is part of a pile of clay which is blocking the view of a semi-trailer with a bulldozer and a second semi-trailer with a camoflaged excavator. Finally, a white truck is pulling a trailer with two Bobcat skid-steer loaders.
On the other side of the Shriner's parking lot, there are four dump trucks and a front end loader. If a section of dike were to break, as happed near this location last week and at Oak Grove School, National Guardsmen would jump in the trucks and race to the scene of the problem. With March done, we note that we set a new record for precipitation, melted snow and rain, of 4.62 inches (11.5 cm) which broke the old record of 2.83 inches (7 cm) set in 1882. The winter has had about 80 inches (2 m) of snow, putting it 4th highest in recorded history. Today was a day to be thankful as the river continued to drop and the city moved from high alert to alert status. In a not to different set of circumstances, a bit more rain on Monday or temperatures a few degrees higher which would have meant rain instead of snow, the river may have reached 42-43 feet.
In that scenario, if a dike had broken in our area, my home could have been an island. Today might have been the first day we got off the island. Hopefully the gate valve and flap valve would have kept the sewage out. We had 5 gallon pails and hand sanitizer to use in place of our bathrooms sinc eshutting the gate valve would mean no sewage leaving or entering. If time permitted, I might have taken a toilet seat from one of our bathrooms and mounted it on some wood between sawhorses to make a more familiar seating situation.
If the dike at the water treatment plant had failed, or back syphonage from homes had contaminated the drinking water, we had enough water, juice, and pop to last our family about a week. I also had plans to get a store of water, maybe in the five gallon pails, to have on hand for washing and other general needs.
The harder thing to lose would have been electricity. As has happened in some of the rural areas, when the power has gone out, equipment has not been able to get into flooded areas to make repairs. We would have lost our sump pump, the blower for the furnace and HEAT, our stove, computers, lighting etc. We have some gas in our grill from last summer. It would have been miserable for general living, but we would have stayed here to manually keep the sump from overflowing and flooding the basement.
At 42 feet we were set up to to be without water, sewer, and electricity for up to a week. Water at 43 feet, where our basement would be flooded through the egress windows and where possibly on our main level would be flooded, still seems unimaginable. The unbelief for me and others in this flat city is that for my house to be flooded at 43 feet, almost all the city would have to be flooded. That would require a tremendous amount of water beyond what we had. After the floods of 1882 and 1897, it was 100 years before the river got that high, and not as high as 1897. Yet 12 years after 1997, we set a new record and the climate is changing.
There is an academic element to this concern: what parameter(s) would need to be changed for the 43 foot crest? I'm not going to build a ring dike around my house at the 45 foot level, but there is the issue of flood insurance which we've never had because we live outside the 500 year flood plain and 43 feet is unimaginable. In 1997, when we had 120 inches (3.1 m) of snow, the idea of a record flood seemed pretty reasonable, but the river crested at under 40 feet.
This winter, we quickly went from severe, but manageable flooding to epic flooding in about a week. Flood insurance does not take affect until 30 days after it is purchased which would have done no good this year. The other approach is to buy it every year, but we may never see a flood like this again especially if Fargo gets funds for a permanent flood mitigation like Grand Forks got after the 1997 flood. Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada built a diversion after the 1952 flood and has not had major problems since. West fargo has a diversion from the Sheyenne River and was pretty problem free this year.
So that's the $100,000 question (self-insured, but the river reaches 43 feet and does major damage) or the $30,000 question (insured, but never needed for many years): will we ever see a 43 foot crest?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
In which snow fell and the fate of animals during the flood is described...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original post to see pictures and video.
Flood news is pretty minimal today: the river is continuing its slow drop and it is now below 38 feet. Grand Forks is approaching its crest which should be a couple feet below the 1997 crest. The current prediction for the second crest continues to be at 37-38 feet. If we get a heavy rain in the next week or so, that could go back to 40-41 feet.
Flood news is pretty minimal today: the river is continuing its slow drop and it is now below 38 feet. Grand Forks is approaching its crest which should be a couple feet below the 1997 crest. The current prediction for the second crest continues to be at 37-38 feet. If we get a heavy rain in the next week or so, that could go back to 40-41 feet.
The big news today was the snow, although the wind didn't seem to come up as had been forecast. The city was pretty much shut down today with snow as well as the flood. I worked from home, not wanting to spend a lot of time driving, brushing snow off windows, getting stuck, etc. We've had about 12 inches (30 cm) of snow since it started yesterday, another 1-4 inches tonight (2.5 - 10 cm), and 7 inches (12.5 cm) last week. The snow in our front yard was almost all gone a week ago after the warm weather and rain.
This snow is wet and heavy. To the south, there was up to 20 inches (50 cm) of snow. Once again we have a lot of water that needs to move through Fargo. Remote sensing is being used to estimate water in the snow/ice mass and we even made NASA image of the day . The major north-south highway through Fargo, I-29, was closed 200 miles (320 km) to the south all the way to 75 miles (125 km) north of Fargo.
The task of shoveling brought out at least one of the good North Dakota women.
The flood has driven animals out of the parkland near the river including mice. We've suspected some in our house and today I scored first in the occasional mousing tournament between me, the alpha male of the house, and our beta male cat. The females of the house watch this tournament very carefully and it is part of the determination of alpha and beta male designations. Also of note today is that I saw my first robin (migratory bird) of spring. In much of the US, the return of robins is a sign of spring. It was ironic that this symbol arrived at our heated birdbath in the middle of a snow storm. It left before I could get my camera.
On a more serious note, preparations for the crest included evacuation of domestic animals which, like many facets of the flood response, was handled well. North Dakota State University opened its horse barns for horses, the Humane Society set up a shelter for cats and dogs at the Red River Fairgrounds, and exotic animals could be taken to the zoo. I haven't heard of any major issues with livestock.
Finally, Comedy Central did a humorous critique of the CNN coverage of the Fargo flood.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| CNN - Stop the Press | ||||
| ||||
Monday, March 30, 2009
In which the snow storm arrived and a new specter appeared...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original article to see the pictures.
We are OK. Going to the office made it feel a bit more normal for me and it truely was good to see co-workers because it meant things were going well enough for them to be at work, too. I didn't see several friends, but that's not unusual on a given day. Ilene and the girls were at home until supper.
Getting back to normal was a key topic around town. Commerce is supposed to get going on Wednesday after the storm. Only essential businesses were to be open until then. Fargo Parks and recreation is supposed to open up on Wednesday. Fargo Public Schools will try to reopen next Monday. They have some work to do as four schools were turned into National Guard barracks, two into emergency shelters for evacuees, and two have major holes on the grounds where clay was dug up for dikes. The major "event" today was loss of power to 2000 customers, well away from the river where the power is needed for sumps and other basement water management.
Heavy, wet snow started falling about lunchtime today. We are supposed to get 8-14 inches by Wednesday morning. Just to summarize our precipitation this month: March 10th - blizzard, March 15 - thunder storm, March 17 - snow storm, March 23 - snow storm. Between the rains and snow, we are having the wettest March on record. We will add this to our snowiest December on record at the start of winter. Throw in a wet November and we have the moisture ingredient for our current flooding.
The sticky snow is flocking trees and bushes. The temps are near freezing, wind still light. It wasn't tooooo bad to go out for supper at Mexican Village tonight and then shovel the driveway when we got home. Maybe 6-8 inches have fallen already. Tomorrow the wind picks up and the potential for whitecap waves on the river kicks in.The snow won't have a significant immediate effect on the river, but....this afternoon the National Weather Service mentioned the effect of the snow moisture when it melts. The river is still forecast to drop about 6 inches (15 cm) per day for the next week to below 36 feet. However, the melting snow will cause the river to rise again and if there is significant rain, the river could go as high or higher than it was last weekend. In the least, it should return to a minimum of 37 feet unless the melt is very, very slow and we are not only cold, but dry. The second crest is currently expected mid April when I am currently scheduled to be out of town. Pray for cool, dry weather.
A major implication of the second crest forecast is that dikes will need to be left in place until the danger of 36-41 foot river levels is past. Since many dikes were built on streets, that will complicate travel as we try to get the city back to normal. Another implication is that the existing dikes will need to be capable of withstanding the second crest. The Red River normally flows at 3-4 miles/hour (5-7 kph), but recently has been at 12-16 miles/hour (20-25 kph). The dikes, unlike the natural river banks, don't have the benefit of tree, bush, and grass roots to keep them in place. Inspection and repair work will need to be done on many miles of dike.
The first flood crest is working its way northward and is currently between Fargo and Grand Forks. North of Grand Forks, where the valley is even flatter, the river has been reported to now be 7 miles (11.5 km) wide. Recall that the river flows from north to south.
As for the watershead upstream (south of Fargo), it can be approximated by a semicircle 60 miles (100 km) in radius from east to south and west. All the rain and snow in that semi-circle that isn't absorbed by the ground needs to flow though the Fargo/Moorhead area - some entering the Red River to the south and some just north of the city.
As our leaders said this past weekend, "It's not over until it's over."
Sunday, March 29, 2009
In which the city fights back and most of the campus is regained...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original article to see the pictures and video.
We are OK. The river dropped below 40 feet this evening which makes it highly unlikely we would need to evacuate in the event of a dike failure. We will continue to run a slight sanitary sewer backup risk until the river drops below 35 feet. The river is forecast to drop 6 inches a day, so that point is about 10 days off. There is still a possibility the river could rise. Starting tomorrow, I plan to make blog entries once a day after supper.
Fargo has provided twice daily televised updates on the flood. One at 8:00 AM with major city and county leaders and then a shorter briefing with fewer people at 2:00 PM. The loss of the Oak Grove campus was based on the 8:00 AM briefing. It turns out that once the campus had been evacuated of rapid response and other personel, and the rest of the city secured (eg contingency dike closed, sewer shut off), someone came up with an idea.
The Blackhawk helicopter traffic I observed this morning was the delivery of 11 of the 2000 lb (1000 kg) sandbags to the area on campus where water was coming under the dike. This slowed the water enough that people could go in with pumps and start getting water out of the enclosed campus. They were also going to do more fill in around the 11 ton patch. With the water flow into campus reduced, only 2 of the 5 builds ended up being in water and then only the lower levels. The gymnasium which had been flooded in 1997 and the new performing arts center were both kept dry. At 2:00 Pm there were lots of happy people about the success of this second effort.
We are OK. The river dropped below 40 feet this evening which makes it highly unlikely we would need to evacuate in the event of a dike failure. We will continue to run a slight sanitary sewer backup risk until the river drops below 35 feet. The river is forecast to drop 6 inches a day, so that point is about 10 days off. There is still a possibility the river could rise. Starting tomorrow, I plan to make blog entries once a day after supper.
Fargo has provided twice daily televised updates on the flood. One at 8:00 AM with major city and county leaders and then a shorter briefing with fewer people at 2:00 PM. The loss of the Oak Grove campus was based on the 8:00 AM briefing. It turns out that once the campus had been evacuated of rapid response and other personel, and the rest of the city secured (eg contingency dike closed, sewer shut off), someone came up with an idea.
The Blackhawk helicopter traffic I observed this morning was the delivery of 11 of the 2000 lb (1000 kg) sandbags to the area on campus where water was coming under the dike. This slowed the water enough that people could go in with pumps and start getting water out of the enclosed campus. They were also going to do more fill in around the 11 ton patch. With the water flow into campus reduced, only 2 of the 5 builds ended up being in water and then only the lower levels. The gymnasium which had been flooded in 1997 and the new performing arts center were both kept dry. At 2:00 Pm there were lots of happy people about the success of this second effort.
We have taken part of our family evacuation plan from the family move in the movie Toy Story 2. My evacuation buddy is the cat. This afternoon he decide that maybe daughter L's evacuation suitcase was a good place to take a nap. As reported earlier, the male cat and I stayed home to "man the fort" while Ilene and the girls went to church, had lunch at Mexican Village with friends afterwards, and then picked up some groceries. They were out over 5 hours which was good. Based on the picture above, I now know why the phrase is not "Cat the fort".
The afternoon tempertures got into the 30s (over 0 C) and the sun was shining. We finished shoveling our driveway so it would be easier to shovel the new snow coming earlier in the week. We also took a walk to see the flood.
This picture was taken near the right end of the red horizontal line (see map in my previous post). It is across the El Zagel golf course parking lot, looking towards the northeast.
This picture was taken at the very right end of the horizontal red line at the intersection of Elm Street and 14th Ave N, looking northeast. There were quite a few other people out for walks.
I'll end with another music video which, while titled "Fargo", it includes pictures from up to 60 miles (100 km) away. Within the city limits of Fargo, only 5 houses have been lost. Thus when you see pictures of people being rescued with air boats or helicopters, they are outside the city limits.
Of the five houses lost, at least three were intentionally unprotected by the city since the owners had not moved out after having severe damage in the 1997 flood. After the 1997 flood, houses with severe damage (eg water on the main floor) could be sold to the city. Almost all homes with that level of damage were sold, torn down, and in our area, permanent dikes were placed on the land where the houses stood. That is another reason damage so far is much less than it was in 1997.
In which a school is lost...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original article to see the map, picture, and video.
We continue to be OK. The river has dropped a few inches which reduces the likelihood we will need to evacuate. Ilene and the girls went to a prayer service at church, leaving me to man the fort.
I've annotated a map from Google Earth to better show our neighborhood and situation. North is at the top of the map.
Near mid-map is a thick, vertical yellow line. The dot at the bottom is where we live. the length of the line to the horizontal red line at the top is about 1/4 mile (400 m): the distance between us and the river. In that quarter mile, the elevation rises one foot (30 cm) on the street from 40 feet (recent river level was 40.20 feet) to 41 feet in front of our house. The narrow red line is along the south side of El Zagel golf course where many of my pictures have been taken.
The thick blue line is the normal course of the Red River. It flows from south to north, unlike most rivers in the US. To the west of the river is Fargo, North Dakota. The narrow blue lines are roughly where the edge of the river is now. Almost all the flooded area is public land: golf course, parks, baseball fields. The narrow dotted lines are where I think the eastern edge of the river is. The eastern edge is in Moorhead Minnesota.
Now for the letters, starting at the top of the map:
- "W" is where I work
- "F" is the Fargodome where we have gone to make sandbags
- "P" is the development where my daughter's piano teacher lives. It is under partial evacuation because the roads are being covered with water.
- "N" is the North Dakota State University campus
- "H" is Meritcare Hospital which evacuated its patients, but it remains open
- "S" is Oak Grove School
Oak Grove is a Lutheran (private) junior and senior high school which was lost overnight. After the flood of 1997, they built a flood wall at 42 feet around the campus. At about 1:00 AM this morning, a major leak started with water coming UNDERNEATH the permanent flood wall. The people on site called in the situation, the rapid response team was called in with sandbags, 100+ people, equipment. After about 3 hours of effort, the campus had to be abandoned and people withdrawn behind the contingency dike just to the west of the school. No one was injured.
This morning starting about 10:00 AM, about 90 minutes ago, there got to be a LOT of Blackhawk helicopter traffic in the neighborhood - about 1 every 10 minutes. The cable below the helicpter ends in a controlled hook. The hook can hold a "bag" with 2000 pounds (1000 kg) of sandbags (not shown). The helicpter can lower the big bag to where it is needed on a dike and release it. Some of the helicopters have gone in with empty hooks (training?) and some with bags which are gone when they return.
We continue to be OK. The river has dropped a few inches which reduces the likelihood we will need to evacuate. Ilene and the girls went to a prayer service at church, leaving me to man the fort.
I've annotated a map from Google Earth to better show our neighborhood and situation. North is at the top of the map.Near mid-map is a thick, vertical yellow line. The dot at the bottom is where we live. the length of the line to the horizontal red line at the top is about 1/4 mile (400 m): the distance between us and the river. In that quarter mile, the elevation rises one foot (30 cm) on the street from 40 feet (recent river level was 40.20 feet) to 41 feet in front of our house. The narrow red line is along the south side of El Zagel golf course where many of my pictures have been taken.
The thick blue line is the normal course of the Red River. It flows from south to north, unlike most rivers in the US. To the west of the river is Fargo, North Dakota. The narrow blue lines are roughly where the edge of the river is now. Almost all the flooded area is public land: golf course, parks, baseball fields. The narrow dotted lines are where I think the eastern edge of the river is. The eastern edge is in Moorhead Minnesota.
Now for the letters, starting at the top of the map:
- "W" is where I work
- "F" is the Fargodome where we have gone to make sandbags
- "P" is the development where my daughter's piano teacher lives. It is under partial evacuation because the roads are being covered with water.
- "N" is the North Dakota State University campus
- "H" is Meritcare Hospital which evacuated its patients, but it remains open
- "S" is Oak Grove School
Oak Grove is a Lutheran (private) junior and senior high school which was lost overnight. After the flood of 1997, they built a flood wall at 42 feet around the campus. At about 1:00 AM this morning, a major leak started with water coming UNDERNEATH the permanent flood wall. The people on site called in the situation, the rapid response team was called in with sandbags, 100+ people, equipment. After about 3 hours of effort, the campus had to be abandoned and people withdrawn behind the contingency dike just to the west of the school. No one was injured.
This morning starting about 10:00 AM, about 90 minutes ago, there got to be a LOT of Blackhawk helicopter traffic in the neighborhood - about 1 every 10 minutes. The cable below the helicpter ends in a controlled hook. The hook can hold a "bag" with 2000 pounds (1000 kg) of sandbags (not shown). The helicpter can lower the big bag to where it is needed on a dike and release it. Some of the helicopters have gone in with empty hooks (training?) and some with bags which are gone when they return.The route of the helicopters in-bound has been from the north at about 75-100 feet above the river. This is probably for safety since dropping a ton of sandbags in a residential area would not be good. The helicopters have been placing the bags southeast of my home. From the map, you can see the river makes a turn there, making it an area prone to erosion. Once the bags have been placed, the helicopters have been heading northwest, taking them over our house to the Fargodome or to the airport just northwest of the Fargodome.
Finally this morning, I share a nicely down music video from YouTube which chronicles the activities of the week and shows how our community and the region have come together this week. I plan to make another blog entry tonight.
The blizzard should stay to the southwest of us tomorrow. "All" we will get is a winter storm with 6 inches (15 cm) of snow and 25 mph winds instead of 35 mph winds. The snow should not have an immediate effect on river levels, but 6-12 inches of snow in the watershed means another 0.5 - 1.5 inches of water which will need to drain through Fargo.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
In which the rise of the Red River is recounted...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original blog post to see the pictures.
We continue to be OK and the city of Fargo continues to be OK. The river actually reached a peak of 40.8 feet at midnight and dropped to 40.5 feet during the day. It is being called a peak, but not the crest, since the river may again rise. The current, largest wild card is a storm coming to the area on Monday which could bring snow, which when it melts would prolong the flood, but more importantly wind, which could damage the dikes. More on that later.
I don't know how 0 feet got defined. Flood stage is 18 feet (6 m), the river is normally at 15 feet (5 m), and parts of the river is 15 feet (5 m) deep. I suppose that 0 feet is the bottom of the river somewhere. The river has been completely dry on a number of occasions, so the bottom has been clearly observed.
On Sunday, when our family went sandbagging for the first time, the river was at about 21 feet (7 m). The river is the dark grey color by the trees in the upper right of this picture. The girls are standing on a sandbag dike and the current level of the river is somewhere between their knees and stomachs. This dike was well constructed and the latest report from our friends Dave and Mary is that the dike is holding well. It was raised later in the week when the river forecasts changed.
This picture was taken on Tuesday afternoon near our home. The river had risen to 30 feet (10 m). The next morning it had risen 5 more feet (1.6 m) to the top of the permanent dike on the left of the fence, filling in the par 9 golf course on the other side. At last night's peak, the top of the dike was 6 feet (2 m) under water.
This view is across the temporary dike across near my home, across part of the golf course, and across where the submerged permanent dike is. While I didn't verify this by standing on top of the temporary dike (up to $1000 fine and 30 days in jail for being on a dike), the water should have been very close to the it at the 40.7 feet (13.5 m) level. Note that this peak level is 26 feet (8.3 m) above its normal level.
The appearance of the river is white because ice formed on top. The sign says "Irrigated by the Red River" ... flood irrigation in this case. The sign is intended to tell people that the golf course uses water directly from the Red River to keep the grass green rather than using treated water which is available to home owners for yard and garden watering only every other day. Once the river drops down below the level of the permanent dike, large pumps will be used to get rid of the rest of the water.
The view in this picture is to the northeast, about the same angle and location as the picture of daughter T at the end of our street from this morning. From the dike going northeast, it is about 0.7 miles (1 km) to the other side of the river. With the storm that is coming, winds of 25 mph (42 kph) are anticipated which could create waves 2 feet (0.6 m) high. Waves this high could quickly erode the dike. The wind could be creating problems at too many sections of the dike at the same time, overwhelming our response capability. This is certainly a matter for prayer.
Today was another clear, crisp day. Cold and crisp bring the following
- Slow melting of more snow which limits the rise of the river
- Increased ice formation which raises the risk of an ice jam on the river which could raise levels
- Increased problems with water pumps - they can freeze
With the snow storm which is coming, we add the following
- Moisture in the snow which when melted has to pass through Fargo
- More water means more flow in the river means more dike erosion from the river, especially where the river turns
- Wind which creates waves which could quickly erode dikes
The river is forecast to stay at historic levels above 39 feet (13 m) for a week. While our dike system is in place, they must stand up to continuous flow of the river and the potential waves. We have a long week ahead.
I plan to post again late tomorrow morning. It has been taking Facebook up to several hours to copy my blog posts to Facebook. Entries may be read directly at http://dakotanoel.blogspot.com/ .
We continue to be OK and the city of Fargo continues to be OK. The river actually reached a peak of 40.8 feet at midnight and dropped to 40.5 feet during the day. It is being called a peak, but not the crest, since the river may again rise. The current, largest wild card is a storm coming to the area on Monday which could bring snow, which when it melts would prolong the flood, but more importantly wind, which could damage the dikes. More on that later.
I don't know how 0 feet got defined. Flood stage is 18 feet (6 m), the river is normally at 15 feet (5 m), and parts of the river is 15 feet (5 m) deep. I suppose that 0 feet is the bottom of the river somewhere. The river has been completely dry on a number of occasions, so the bottom has been clearly observed.
On Sunday, when our family went sandbagging for the first time, the river was at about 21 feet (7 m). The river is the dark grey color by the trees in the upper right of this picture. The girls are standing on a sandbag dike and the current level of the river is somewhere between their knees and stomachs. This dike was well constructed and the latest report from our friends Dave and Mary is that the dike is holding well. It was raised later in the week when the river forecasts changed.
This picture was taken on Tuesday afternoon near our home. The river had risen to 30 feet (10 m). The next morning it had risen 5 more feet (1.6 m) to the top of the permanent dike on the left of the fence, filling in the par 9 golf course on the other side. At last night's peak, the top of the dike was 6 feet (2 m) under water.
This view is across the temporary dike across near my home, across part of the golf course, and across where the submerged permanent dike is. While I didn't verify this by standing on top of the temporary dike (up to $1000 fine and 30 days in jail for being on a dike), the water should have been very close to the it at the 40.7 feet (13.5 m) level. Note that this peak level is 26 feet (8.3 m) above its normal level.
The appearance of the river is white because ice formed on top. The sign says "Irrigated by the Red River" ... flood irrigation in this case. The sign is intended to tell people that the golf course uses water directly from the Red River to keep the grass green rather than using treated water which is available to home owners for yard and garden watering only every other day. Once the river drops down below the level of the permanent dike, large pumps will be used to get rid of the rest of the water.
The view in this picture is to the northeast, about the same angle and location as the picture of daughter T at the end of our street from this morning. From the dike going northeast, it is about 0.7 miles (1 km) to the other side of the river. With the storm that is coming, winds of 25 mph (42 kph) are anticipated which could create waves 2 feet (0.6 m) high. Waves this high could quickly erode the dike. The wind could be creating problems at too many sections of the dike at the same time, overwhelming our response capability. This is certainly a matter for prayer.
Today was another clear, crisp day. Cold and crisp bring the following
- Slow melting of more snow which limits the rise of the river
- Increased ice formation which raises the risk of an ice jam on the river which could raise levels
- Increased problems with water pumps - they can freeze
With the snow storm which is coming, we add the following
- Moisture in the snow which when melted has to pass through Fargo
- More water means more flow in the river means more dike erosion from the river, especially where the river turns
- Wind which creates waves which could quickly erode dikes
The river is forecast to stay at historic levels above 39 feet (13 m) for a week. While our dike system is in place, they must stand up to continuous flow of the river and the potential waves. We have a long week ahead.
I plan to post again late tomorrow morning. It has been taking Facebook up to several hours to copy my blog posts to Facebook. Entries may be read directly at http://dakotanoel.blogspot.com/ .
In which the city survived the first night of the siege...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original blog post to see the pictures.
We continue to be OK.
The city of Fargo is now a walled city under siege with about 35 miles of primary and seconday dikes ranging in height from 3 to 30 feet. Daughter T above is shown with the dike at the end of our street, a block and a half from our house. The dike is about 4 feet high which is consistent with the city's statement that dikes are up to 43 feet. The whitish area seen just beyond the dike is the Red River, frozen in this spot (7 F this morning). The river was at 40.8 feet this morning and holding, but is forecast to rise a bit with the sun and fluctuations between 41-42 feet still seem to be realistic. The crest is still supposed to last the week.
At the 8 AM flood briefiing this morning, the city leadership seemed in good spirits, especially since the mayor and others had gotton a full night of sleep last night. The dikes are pretty much in place to 43 feet, so now we go into seige mode with rapid response as shown below. It turns out the activity I reported on last night in our neighborhood was in response to a minor breach which occur almost hourly along the dike systems.
Defense of the city starts with homeowners and government people monitoring the dike system, like these ND National Guardsmen an hour ago near our house. If a major leak or other problem is identified, the rapid response team is notified. In the case of a clay dike problem, heavy equipment staged along the dikes and clay from the "mine" near the Fargo airport are dispatched to the scene.
In the case of a sandbag dike breach, palletized sandbags can be dispatched from the reserves in the Fargodome. A week ago, efforts began to make 1.5 million sandbags over a three week period. As the crest prediction rose and crest timing moved forward 2 weeks, an amazing 3 million sandbags were produced in one week. It is important that the reserve sandbags be warm so they are pliable. Otherwise they freeze and become like frozen turkeys. They don't stack well on a dike and/or need to be dropped several times to break them up, slowing operations.
While sandbags are being dispatched, a CODEred phone notification goes out to people in the neighborhood with the need and the location. Up to several hundred volunteers and government people can be on site when the sandbags arrive (this picture is showing sand, not sandbags, being delivered earlier in the week. Thanks to our friend Laurie for sharing some of her pictures with us last night).
We continue to be OK.
The city of Fargo is now a walled city under siege with about 35 miles of primary and seconday dikes ranging in height from 3 to 30 feet. Daughter T above is shown with the dike at the end of our street, a block and a half from our house. The dike is about 4 feet high which is consistent with the city's statement that dikes are up to 43 feet. The whitish area seen just beyond the dike is the Red River, frozen in this spot (7 F this morning). The river was at 40.8 feet this morning and holding, but is forecast to rise a bit with the sun and fluctuations between 41-42 feet still seem to be realistic. The crest is still supposed to last the week.
At the 8 AM flood briefiing this morning, the city leadership seemed in good spirits, especially since the mayor and others had gotton a full night of sleep last night. The dikes are pretty much in place to 43 feet, so now we go into seige mode with rapid response as shown below. It turns out the activity I reported on last night in our neighborhood was in response to a minor breach which occur almost hourly along the dike systems.
Defense of the city starts with homeowners and government people monitoring the dike system, like these ND National Guardsmen an hour ago near our house. If a major leak or other problem is identified, the rapid response team is notified. In the case of a clay dike problem, heavy equipment staged along the dikes and clay from the "mine" near the Fargo airport are dispatched to the scene.
In the case of a sandbag dike breach, palletized sandbags can be dispatched from the reserves in the Fargodome. A week ago, efforts began to make 1.5 million sandbags over a three week period. As the crest prediction rose and crest timing moved forward 2 weeks, an amazing 3 million sandbags were produced in one week. It is important that the reserve sandbags be warm so they are pliable. Otherwise they freeze and become like frozen turkeys. They don't stack well on a dike and/or need to be dropped several times to break them up, slowing operations.
While sandbags are being dispatched, a CODEred phone notification goes out to people in the neighborhood with the need and the location. Up to several hundred volunteers and government people can be on site when the sandbags arrive (this picture is showing sand, not sandbags, being delivered earlier in the week. Thanks to our friend Laurie for sharing some of her pictures with us last night).
The sandbags are then passed in a sandbag line from the drop off point to the position on the dike where they are needed.
The plan for today, barring needs in the neighborhood, needs in our church family, and evacuation, is to continue "evacuation prep". We have enough packed to leave on short notice, but will move some more things up to first floor from the basement and gather some more financial things to expedite that aspect of relocation.
I plan to post again after supper tonight.
Friday, March 27, 2009
In which the battle enters a new phase...
Facebook readers may need to click through the original post to see the pictures.
This was our house this morning. As mentioned in my earlier post, it was a crisp day with temps in the teens and morning windchills below zero. We had a surprise this morning when the doorbell rang and it was the mailman. It was our first delivery in several days.
This time of year, people often wonder if they should let the sun take care of melting the snow. That didn't seem likely and, being more confident that the river wouldn't be taking care of the snow either, I went up and finished up the shoveling my daughters had started yesterday. Earlier in the week, if shoveling was done, it was sand into sandbags.
At our house, it was kind of a lazy, late winter day. I even took a nap with our cat to catch up on lost sleep last night and earlier into the week. The picture above and our activities today are not representative of what has gone on in a mile radius of our house as the river rose to a record 40.75 feet. Very good news is that the river is rising more slowly and the 41-42 crest is looking more certain.
The hospital a half mile from us evacuated its 180 patients last night by bus, ambulance, and helicopter. A neighborhood seven blocks from us is now blocked off by a contingency dike. Contingency dikes have been a major project in the city today: dikes built between primary dikes and the rest of the city to contain breaches. That's good for us, but those between the primary and contingency dikes move their cars out and need to be ready to evacuate.
Across the river from us in Moorhead, another neighborhood is being evacuated. Daughter L's piano teacher lives there and we are likely now missing a fourth week of lessons: March 10 Blizzard, March 17 student on spring break, March 24 sandbagging, March 31 teacher's home unreachable due to flood. Another family we know had taken in a 90 year old man who had been evacuated from his assisted living home. He is now being evacuated a second time. It sounded like the issue was that the road connecting the development to the main road was flooding vs the individual homes being in trouble at this time.
We think the VA hospital has been evacuating patients due to the amount of military helicopter traffic there. While I was uploading pictures for this post, an excavator drove by. It was headed to the section of dike a block and a half from our house where there were a number of flashing lights. I'm hoping that was to do "routine" raising and maintenance of the dike related to the contingency dike being hooked into the dike system. Things can change rapidly and, in spite of today's respite, we could be called to help shore up a dike or evacuate at any time.
Those things have been happening within a mile of our home, some making the national news. Now that the flood is here, Concordia College and Minnesota State University Moorhead are closing and sending students out of the area (international students and others with no place to go are ending up in the Bemiji, MN area, 3 hours northeast of Fargo). The students have been so crucial to making and deploying sandbags. NDSU students and others continued making sandbags today, but the 24/7 operations at the dome shut down at 6:00 PM tonight. Fargo has made 3 million sandbags in the last week. Several hospitals are evacuated, some nursing homes are evacuated, school has been called off for all of next week to minimize travel in town and let people focus on flood fighting or evacuating.
While the students who helped build the dikes leave, the bulk of the battle is being carried out by people in the neighborhood to man pumps which pump out seepage under and and through dikes as well as about 1900 national guards people and city employees. With water well up the dikes, there is concern about people falling into the frigid, rapid waters. Thus the "dike walkers" who walk and monitor for breaches on the clay dikes are not volunteers.
This was our house this morning. As mentioned in my earlier post, it was a crisp day with temps in the teens and morning windchills below zero. We had a surprise this morning when the doorbell rang and it was the mailman. It was our first delivery in several days.This time of year, people often wonder if they should let the sun take care of melting the snow. That didn't seem likely and, being more confident that the river wouldn't be taking care of the snow either, I went up and finished up the shoveling my daughters had started yesterday. Earlier in the week, if shoveling was done, it was sand into sandbags.
At our house, it was kind of a lazy, late winter day. I even took a nap with our cat to catch up on lost sleep last night and earlier into the week. The picture above and our activities today are not representative of what has gone on in a mile radius of our house as the river rose to a record 40.75 feet. Very good news is that the river is rising more slowly and the 41-42 crest is looking more certain.
The hospital a half mile from us evacuated its 180 patients last night by bus, ambulance, and helicopter. A neighborhood seven blocks from us is now blocked off by a contingency dike. Contingency dikes have been a major project in the city today: dikes built between primary dikes and the rest of the city to contain breaches. That's good for us, but those between the primary and contingency dikes move their cars out and need to be ready to evacuate.
Across the river from us in Moorhead, another neighborhood is being evacuated. Daughter L's piano teacher lives there and we are likely now missing a fourth week of lessons: March 10 Blizzard, March 17 student on spring break, March 24 sandbagging, March 31 teacher's home unreachable due to flood. Another family we know had taken in a 90 year old man who had been evacuated from his assisted living home. He is now being evacuated a second time. It sounded like the issue was that the road connecting the development to the main road was flooding vs the individual homes being in trouble at this time.
We think the VA hospital has been evacuating patients due to the amount of military helicopter traffic there. While I was uploading pictures for this post, an excavator drove by. It was headed to the section of dike a block and a half from our house where there were a number of flashing lights. I'm hoping that was to do "routine" raising and maintenance of the dike related to the contingency dike being hooked into the dike system. Things can change rapidly and, in spite of today's respite, we could be called to help shore up a dike or evacuate at any time.
Those things have been happening within a mile of our home, some making the national news. Now that the flood is here, Concordia College and Minnesota State University Moorhead are closing and sending students out of the area (international students and others with no place to go are ending up in the Bemiji, MN area, 3 hours northeast of Fargo). The students have been so crucial to making and deploying sandbags. NDSU students and others continued making sandbags today, but the 24/7 operations at the dome shut down at 6:00 PM tonight. Fargo has made 3 million sandbags in the last week. Several hospitals are evacuated, some nursing homes are evacuated, school has been called off for all of next week to minimize travel in town and let people focus on flood fighting or evacuating.
While the students who helped build the dikes leave, the bulk of the battle is being carried out by people in the neighborhood to man pumps which pump out seepage under and and through dikes as well as about 1900 national guards people and city employees. With water well up the dikes, there is concern about people falling into the frigid, rapid waters. Thus the "dike walkers" who walk and monitor for breaches on the clay dikes are not volunteers.
Shortly after the excavator went down the street, this Minneapolis/St Paul TV news station came from the opposite direction and parked across the street from our house. It looked like the driver was making a cell phone call.
A news update is currently on TV and our section of dike is NOT one of the stories, so my maintenance theory sounds likely. We have some more evacuation prep to do...it always comes into a question of how much to pack, how many things to move how high. Tonight and tomorrow I hope to reach what I consider good enough. So tonight as we sat down to supper we were thankful.
On the other hand, we know others whose flood stories are not going well. We know about a dozen families in various stages of evacuation. Friends who just adopted a baby earlier in the month had their dike overwhelmed. The mom and all their kids had left town earlier and to my knowledge, the family is together and safe. Other friends are manning pumps behind their sandbag dikes as temps will dip near zero tonight. Water and windchill make for a miserable night shift. The dike walkers will be out patrolling and so the battle continues....
In which the sun rises on a new day....
No pictures or videos with this entry.
As reported yesterday, things took a dire turn for the area as the flood crest was raised to 42-43 feet. I'll make a quick entry while watching the morning Fargo briefing on TV. Good news is that they believe the crest will be 41.5 - 42 which means even with a dike breach, our main floor would be above water.
We are OK right now.
While Ilene slept well last night, I woke up at 4:00 and didn't sleep much after that. I heard the helicopters evacuating the hospital half a mile away and construction equipment continuing to work on dikes through the night. I am not drinking caffinated coffee today.
The morning is sunny and crisp (10 F). I went out to top off the tank in our bigger minivan and we will continue packing so we are ready for a mandatory evacuation, if things come to that. Once that is done, we will consider needs to continue helping with the sandbag efforts as well as move more things out of the basement.
On a more somber note, the area we had been helping friends sandbag this week in South Moorehead is now under a voluntary evacuation, potentially leading to mandatory evacuation. We also know people in some fo the mandatory evacuation areas, but haven't heard where they are or been able to support them yet.
As reported yesterday, things took a dire turn for the area as the flood crest was raised to 42-43 feet. I'll make a quick entry while watching the morning Fargo briefing on TV. Good news is that they believe the crest will be 41.5 - 42 which means even with a dike breach, our main floor would be above water.
We are OK right now.
While Ilene slept well last night, I woke up at 4:00 and didn't sleep much after that. I heard the helicopters evacuating the hospital half a mile away and construction equipment continuing to work on dikes through the night. I am not drinking caffinated coffee today.
The morning is sunny and crisp (10 F). I went out to top off the tank in our bigger minivan and we will continue packing so we are ready for a mandatory evacuation, if things come to that. Once that is done, we will consider needs to continue helping with the sandbag efforts as well as move more things out of the basement.
On a more somber note, the area we had been helping friends sandbag this week in South Moorehead is now under a voluntary evacuation, potentially leading to mandatory evacuation. We also know people in some fo the mandatory evacuation areas, but haven't heard where they are or been able to support them yet.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
In which Noel's heart sinks and hope is renewed...
No pictures or videos tonight.
Today was to be rather ordinary in the new normal: Ilene and the girls went off to help sandbag, I was working from home and then went to the office for a meeting, some administration, and to pick up materials to keep me occupied during the three day 41 foot crest once preparations were done. Flood fighting went well and the dikes in Fargo were raised a foot for the 41 foot crest. Evacuations continued in outlieing areas.
At 4:50 PM, the National Weather Service issued a revised crest of 42-43 feet lasting up to a week. A colleague who had been out sandbagging came by to pick up things to work on from home as I had, but on the radio he had heard the news. I restarted my computer and we confirmed the news. My heart sank. Recall that 42 feet is approximately the middle of our yard and 43 feet is the front steps.
After passing the news up the company chain of command, I headed home with a stop at CVS pharmacy to pick up a couple planned items, but added a refill on my prescription and some additional survival items to my purchase. It was interesting shopping while my prescription was being filled: what more do I need to survive a higher crest if utilities are cut off and I am stranded on an arctic island (temps were in the 20s again today, so our 7 inches of snow hasn't melted much).
Ilene and the girls arrived home and we watched the 8:00 PM emergency city council meeting which renewed hope. Fargo intends to raise dikes to 44 feet under our new city motto "Another Day, Another Foot". The mayor and other city leaders are of the attitude, "if we are going to lose this, we will go down swinging". So hope is renewed and we are making plans as a family for the newer challenge.
We are tired tonight and will sleep. In the morning we will pack and load our bigger minivan in case evacuation becomes mandatory. We will also make additional preparations for a 3-7 day fight at our house at 42 feet and no utilities. To succeed, our supplies need to last, our sewer backup gates need to hold, and we need to keep our sump holes from overflowing.
We are fortunate to still be in the battle. Mandatory evacuations are being carried out in sections of Fargo and Moorhead where people have lost or may lose their homes. The National Guard is preparing to evacuate up to 30,000 people from South Fargo in two waves if the need arises.
Please continue to keep us and others up and down the Red River Valley in your thoughts and prayers: Wisdom in planning, strength and safety in preparation, and physical, spirtual, and emotional stamina in daily life.
Today was to be rather ordinary in the new normal: Ilene and the girls went off to help sandbag, I was working from home and then went to the office for a meeting, some administration, and to pick up materials to keep me occupied during the three day 41 foot crest once preparations were done. Flood fighting went well and the dikes in Fargo were raised a foot for the 41 foot crest. Evacuations continued in outlieing areas.
At 4:50 PM, the National Weather Service issued a revised crest of 42-43 feet lasting up to a week. A colleague who had been out sandbagging came by to pick up things to work on from home as I had, but on the radio he had heard the news. I restarted my computer and we confirmed the news. My heart sank. Recall that 42 feet is approximately the middle of our yard and 43 feet is the front steps.
After passing the news up the company chain of command, I headed home with a stop at CVS pharmacy to pick up a couple planned items, but added a refill on my prescription and some additional survival items to my purchase. It was interesting shopping while my prescription was being filled: what more do I need to survive a higher crest if utilities are cut off and I am stranded on an arctic island (temps were in the 20s again today, so our 7 inches of snow hasn't melted much).
Ilene and the girls arrived home and we watched the 8:00 PM emergency city council meeting which renewed hope. Fargo intends to raise dikes to 44 feet under our new city motto "Another Day, Another Foot". The mayor and other city leaders are of the attitude, "if we are going to lose this, we will go down swinging". So hope is renewed and we are making plans as a family for the newer challenge.
We are tired tonight and will sleep. In the morning we will pack and load our bigger minivan in case evacuation becomes mandatory. We will also make additional preparations for a 3-7 day fight at our house at 42 feet and no utilities. To succeed, our supplies need to last, our sewer backup gates need to hold, and we need to keep our sump holes from overflowing.
We are fortunate to still be in the battle. Mandatory evacuations are being carried out in sections of Fargo and Moorhead where people have lost or may lose their homes. The National Guard is preparing to evacuate up to 30,000 people from South Fargo in two waves if the need arises.
Please continue to keep us and others up and down the Red River Valley in your thoughts and prayers: Wisdom in planning, strength and safety in preparation, and physical, spirtual, and emotional stamina in daily life.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
In which snow fell and the river sought to rise higher...
Facebook readers may need to click through to the original article to see pictures and the video.
Yesterday was a warm late March day with temps in the 40s and even some sunshine in the morning which brightened spirits. Last night rain resumed. It turned to freezing rain in the night and then to snow. The company delivering sand from 30 miles east of Fargo pulled its drivers and Fargo had to shut down sandbag filling until supplies from within the city were located. With daylight, the sand flow resumed from Minnesota.
Our day started with a phone call at 6:30 AM that Fargo Public Schools had cancelled classes for the day. They have since cancelled for the rest of the week along with the three colleges. Elective surgeries have been cancelled at hospitals. West Acres Mall was closed. It just didn't make sense to deal with 7 inches of snow AND fight a flood AND carry on things as usual. Streets were bad and travel is taking about twice as long due to compacted, slick snow on side streets and heavy traffic on the main streets which remain open. Priority for snow clearing is given to routes vital to fighting the flood. Low bridges have closed and major streets by the river are closed for dikes. It has gotten even more surreal in town.
I ran up to where I had taken Ilene's picture with coffee the afternoon before. We had had about 3 inches of snow at this point and you can see how the river has risen.
The river had risen enough to go over the El Zagel golf course dike. The only consequence is that the course will open later than normal and no attempt was made to raise the level of the dike. The top of the dike in the video should be under 6 feet of water by Saturday afternoon.
Ilene and the girls headed up to the dome from 10:00 AM till 2:30ish PM to fill sandbags. I stayed home to monitor sump and sewer and spend some time on my day job.
At noon, the National Weather Service raised its crest prediction from 40 feet to 41 feet. It will stay there several days. Fargo and Moorhead responded that the 15 miles of dikes in Fargo and x miles in Moorhead would need to be raised to 42-43 feet. Our friends who had finished their dikes for a 40 foot crest needed help to increase their dikes' height and width. We all went back to South Moorehead to make sandbags and help on a sandbag line. The temperatures were 30 degrees F cooler than on Sunday which made it harder for bag holders and openers as they had to work with gloves on.
With the higher river forecast, the dike in the first picture of this post, which is near my house, will be raised by a couple more feet. The new forecast puts it about at the top of my wife's head in yesterday's picture. Tonight they were also extending the dike down the street towards our house. It is the structure which will keep the river from reaching the street in front of our house.
Tomorrow the city will be sharing evacuation plans. From live coverage of a meeting tonight, it appears step one will be to get people from a section of town with a failed dike to higher ground in Fargo and then, if possible, out of Fargo. Major roads (eg I-29, I-94, etc) are closing north, south, and west of Fargo due to water over the road. At 41 feet with breeched dikes, it may not be possible to use one of the few remaining bridges heading to Minnesota.
Some of the outlying towns near Fargo are being evacuated. The Coast Guard brought in airboats for evacuating people...and in an oddly humorous coincidence, channel 6 just broadcast a commercial for Oxbow Country Club which is currently underwater and in a community being evacuated.
Bismarck, 230 miles to the west, has also had flood problems today due to ice jams. It is on the Missouri River which does not impact Fargo. They also just wrapped up a blizzard which became our storm today.
That is pretty much our day....
Yesterday was a warm late March day with temps in the 40s and even some sunshine in the morning which brightened spirits. Last night rain resumed. It turned to freezing rain in the night and then to snow. The company delivering sand from 30 miles east of Fargo pulled its drivers and Fargo had to shut down sandbag filling until supplies from within the city were located. With daylight, the sand flow resumed from Minnesota.
Our day started with a phone call at 6:30 AM that Fargo Public Schools had cancelled classes for the day. They have since cancelled for the rest of the week along with the three colleges. Elective surgeries have been cancelled at hospitals. West Acres Mall was closed. It just didn't make sense to deal with 7 inches of snow AND fight a flood AND carry on things as usual. Streets were bad and travel is taking about twice as long due to compacted, slick snow on side streets and heavy traffic on the main streets which remain open. Priority for snow clearing is given to routes vital to fighting the flood. Low bridges have closed and major streets by the river are closed for dikes. It has gotten even more surreal in town.
I ran up to where I had taken Ilene's picture with coffee the afternoon before. We had had about 3 inches of snow at this point and you can see how the river has risen.
The river had risen enough to go over the El Zagel golf course dike. The only consequence is that the course will open later than normal and no attempt was made to raise the level of the dike. The top of the dike in the video should be under 6 feet of water by Saturday afternoon.
Ilene and the girls headed up to the dome from 10:00 AM till 2:30ish PM to fill sandbags. I stayed home to monitor sump and sewer and spend some time on my day job.
At noon, the National Weather Service raised its crest prediction from 40 feet to 41 feet. It will stay there several days. Fargo and Moorhead responded that the 15 miles of dikes in Fargo and x miles in Moorhead would need to be raised to 42-43 feet. Our friends who had finished their dikes for a 40 foot crest needed help to increase their dikes' height and width. We all went back to South Moorehead to make sandbags and help on a sandbag line. The temperatures were 30 degrees F cooler than on Sunday which made it harder for bag holders and openers as they had to work with gloves on.
My wife Ilene is the holder in the picture above. Daughter T is in the red coat behind her.
With the higher river forecast, the dike in the first picture of this post, which is near my house, will be raised by a couple more feet. The new forecast puts it about at the top of my wife's head in yesterday's picture. Tonight they were also extending the dike down the street towards our house. It is the structure which will keep the river from reaching the street in front of our house.
Tomorrow the city will be sharing evacuation plans. From live coverage of a meeting tonight, it appears step one will be to get people from a section of town with a failed dike to higher ground in Fargo and then, if possible, out of Fargo. Major roads (eg I-29, I-94, etc) are closing north, south, and west of Fargo due to water over the road. At 41 feet with breeched dikes, it may not be possible to use one of the few remaining bridges heading to Minnesota.
Some of the outlying towns near Fargo are being evacuated. The Coast Guard brought in airboats for evacuating people...and in an oddly humorous coincidence, channel 6 just broadcast a commercial for Oxbow Country Club which is currently underwater and in a community being evacuated.
Bismarck, 230 miles to the west, has also had flood problems today due to ice jams. It is on the Missouri River which does not impact Fargo. They also just wrapped up a blizzard which became our storm today.
That is pretty much our day....
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