Flood Report #3 3/24/09 5:08 PM

I have lots of thoughts in my mind right now. This is likely to be stream of consciousness positng. Let me just get some of these out.

Youth is once again being served. As in 1997, it is college students, high school students and some even younger who are the labor force for the effort. Campuses were closed again today so they could be put to work and students from public and private high schools locally and from the region are also working. At one point today in Fargo they had too many volunteers. Gloria hallelujah for such problems. Students are coming from Grand Forks and other places from the region and from far away. They are making this fast work and the 24 hour filling of sandbags possible. Last night both the shoveling of sand on the Fargodome floor and the 3 machines at "Sandbag Central" went all night and in 24 hours they filled over 450,000 sandbags. They aim to do it again tonight.

The weather gave us a break today. The rain stayed away and lots of building got done. It was around 50 as the high and that helped so much. Tomorrow will be colder as a snowstorm starting late tonight is expected to give us 1-3 inches of snow. As long as this snow isn't too wet, this won't be too bad. Trucks hauling sandbags may have to be driving more slowly to prevent accidents. Plus, the cooler weather may have helped in the change in the crest prediction. That prediction is now for between 39 - 41 ft. but not until Sunday which is two days later than the previous prediction. That means there is more time to work. The cooler weather will also mean the crest may last awhile so managing dikes will go well into next week.

The bad surprises today were away from here. In both Bismarck, ND and Crookston, MN evacuations were needed after ice jams caused sudden flooding. We worry about those here, but mostly in tributary rivers. It is the Sheyenne River and the Wild Rice River and what they bring to the Red River that worries us most right now.

When I teach civic responsibility, so much focus goes into being a part of the political system. Truth is, I should teach days like this. It is a citizen volunteer force together with local, state and federal government that is key to this. If citizens had no afinity for there community or felt no responsibility to their fellow citizens, it would not be possible. It is this force of these individuals serving the common good together with dedicated elected officials and unelected bureaucrats that will make success possible.

I am getting increasingly irritated with stories on the radio of gawkers driving near work sites and other drivers ignoring police lights leading trucks with sand and sandbags where they need to go. I'm leaning toward the sherrifs' attitude of instant arrest and assignment to sandbagging. If they aren't able to do that, conviscate their cars so they can't do it again. They can have them back after the flood emergency is over. Free riders who sees this as a chance for entertaining sightseeing are not to be tolerated.

We are on NBC news right now. A news guy stands in front of a group hauling bags to build a dike. I wonder as he finishes, if they harass him and his camera guy to get to work.

I have noticed that my world has gotten a lot smaller in the last several days. I'm barely reading all the political and other news I usually pour over. I've ignored most of the NCAA basketball tournament games on TV, even the Tigers' extremely close game on Saturday. I was at the call center and used my marvelous Blackberry Storm to track the score when things slowed down. Baseball season starts in a couple of weeks. The Chiefs will be drafting new players soon. The political world is in a storm over AIG bonuses and the Obama Administration's plan to get credit moving again. I find all that as distractions and breaks from the intensity of the flood fight. Getting back to classes again, perhaps on Thursday, will be somewhat of a break.

This is very intense and I feel an powerful need to do what I can. For me and my bad back, answering phones is my contribution. I figured out last night as I left "Flood Central" that I had done 20 hours over 4 days. It made me feel good. Today, however, I also sense that it has probably led me to catch a cold. Too many hands touching the same phones. Germs love that. I'm only scheduled for two hours late tonight. I'll call ahead of time and see how much I'm needed. If I can stay home I will and hope to pitch in tomorrow.

For now I watch the glorious news of people living up to one of my favorite lines about the human race from a 1980's scifi movie. An alien states, "You are at your best when things are at their worst."