Flood Report #7 3/28/09 10:54 PM

The last couple of days continue to bring observations that range from terrible to wondrous.

First the terrible, which is really just a few, but my ranting will go on and on.

We are dealing with national and international media and at times it is quite frustrating. One headline had "thousands fleeing homes" which is probably numerically accurate, but very deceptive. Another story floated that Main Avenue in Fargo was flooding. It wasn't, they just closed part of it to shore up a dirt dike to be better able to withstand the pressure of high water over several days. If you want better, quality of news I suggest the local paper (http://www.inforum.com/) and our biggest local AM station, the Mighty 790 KFGO.

Another terrible time came when Oak Grove Lutheran School had part of its permanent flood wall give way on the bottom and began to fill school buildings. For those of us here in 1997 the entire Oak Grove neighborhood was overwhelmed and this news in the middle of the night sounded like the first big loss in Fargo. By afternoon, however, the story had changed. The Fargo Public Works Director figured a way to use 1 ton sandbags dropped by Blackhawk helicopters to shore up the wall on the river side. The blackhawks dropped 11 bags and were flying right over my neighborhood. This effort plus lots of help pumping and cleaning has meant that as of us this writing I know of only one Oak Grove Lutheran building that still has water. The rest of the neighborhood is protected by dirt dike on the accurately named Short Street. Twelve years after I personally watched a river overwhelm the neighborhood, this time the river has been beat back and, so far, the damage has been as small as possible.

The last terrible is the weather forecast. We have another 8-12 inch snow storm starting tomorrow and going through Tuesday. It's already started in Jamestown and points west and it is headed our way. Initially it was forecast to be more heavy along the N. Dakota/S. Dakota border. Not now. Now we get our 4th major storm in 4 weeks and the 3rd snow storm. This one may also feature 30 mph winds on Tuesday. This is not as scary as it sounds as far as the flood. The snow will be wet, but it won't be putting much of that moisture into the river system until it melts. That looks like it won't start much before the weekend. That will give more time for the river to get lower and be able to take the water more easily. The problem will be how much it interferes with the current dikes and getting where needed to fight any problems with the dikes. In my neighborhood it also just makes it hard to get down the street. We are not a main street and the plowing only exists right now where it is really necessary. After the last storm I did a bit of the street near my driveway. I'm considering calling or emailing local radio to suggest those with big snowblowers on such streets do some of the same to alleviate things. I'll let you know who it goes. The wind could be troublesome. We may see whitecaps on the river.

There is also one oddity that I can't quite figure out. At this morning's press conference Fargo's mayor, Dennis Walaker, said he had been getting pressure from government officials "higher up" to evacuate Fargo. This statement came just about 36 hours after the ND DOT closed off the interstates in a way you would do if you were expecting to have all 4 lanes head in one direction during a mass evacuation. No such evacuation was on and it has not been clarified why the folks running North Dakota's highways from Bismarck decided to do that. I really want to know who the mayor was getting pressure from and why they were thinking that way. He's probably too nice a guy to say. Me, I'd face them down front and center. I can tell you that if you ordered an evacuation of Fargo today most of us wouldn't leave. We'd be asking "why do you want to surrender now?" On both sides of the river, the people take great pride in their insistence on taking what nature throws at them. Rude gestures would be the common response from the locals to evacuation.

This brings me once again to the big beautiful part of this natural (though poor development planning enhanced) disaster. 1997 was the first winter/spring I lived up here. I began to really fall for the place seeing how they pitched together during the flood. Twelve years later it is on again and once again the reaction is overwhelming glorious. I volunteer at the phone center that takes calls of people looking to volunteer. Last night we were repeatedly answering calls from folks who were anxious to do more. It was Saturday night and what they wanted to do was help others. Today, in order to stockpile sandbags, the city re-opened the Fargodome manual sandbagging effort. Plus, radio stations have been directing folks to small towns that have needed help. Tomorrow, Moorhead is going to be stockpiling sandbags. The citzenry doesn't want to turn the job over to the police, firefighters, public works, national guard and smaller numbers of volunteers. There is still a deep desire to be involved.

The river crested yesterday at just under 41 feet. We've are in a slow downward slope so that we are now down around the crest level of 1997. Given the snow, wind and length of time it will take to lower the river further, we all know we aren't done yet. I'll be spending part of my evenings at the call center ("Flood Central") each evening this week until they tell me to stay home. I've got to do my small part where I can.

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, contributions to relief (http://www.impactgiveback.org/general/index.aspx), wizard spells and everything else. My view is that the prayers have been answered by people responding in ways that truly follow the teachings I learned in Sunday School. Love your neighbor and do unto others as you would have them do unto you have come to life in thousands of ways in the Red River Valley over the last couple of weeks. I've even heard that the local criminal element has been taking time off. Perhaps they are filling sandbags, too.