I look like a Village People Reject while on volunteering as a traffic guard this weekend.
Here is a short video to introduce some of the North Dakota National Guard soldiers on Levee Patrol in Valley City, ND:
Here are some images of the last bit of levee work in Valley City. Some of the last emergency levees raised in Valley city were on the VCSU campus. We are 3″ short of flood stage as of 9:00 am Sunday morning but with this rain we will be at flood stage in moments. It looks like our forecast crest is for Monday afternoon at 18.5 feet. In Valley City action stage is 12.5 feet, flood stage is 15 feet, moderate flood stage is 16 feet, major flood stage 17 feet.
It is with great excitement and relief to be able to say the word – CREST. I hope I didn’t jinx us, but it appears that the Red River is going down in Oxbow. The highest observation was 37.14 feet. Our permanent flood protection is set at 42 feet.Â
My preparation this year for the flood was almost nothing. In 2009 we had plenty of sandbagging parties at multiple times, multiple locations. Now with the permanent plan and the sophistication of sandbagging offsite I didn’t sandbag. My son sandbagged this year for our family and had a great time doing so. He called me one night, as I was in sunny Arizona for work, after he had left the Cass County Sandbag Central and told me that he and his buddy “easily†did 200 bags that night (they are 3rd grade Kindred Vikings). They had so much fun they went back the next day!
The Red River to me is behaving itself; it’s that darn Wild Rice River that is the problem around here. That river is causing the overland flooding. I hate the Wild Rice River. In 1997 is surrounded my parent’s house that was built in the early 1970’s never once with a previous flooding issue and that river also overtook my friend’s basement in 2009.
Something has changed with that river. As a life long resident of North Dakota growing up in a house South of Fargo we would always watch the Wild Rice River when it flooded around here. We would gage the height by how high the river got on the Farmers Union sign. That river never really got that high, never did is spread out for miles. Never did I hear of anyone that had to live on the Wild Rice River having to sandbag. Then BAM, 1997 happened and the Wild Rice River has never been the same.Â
I think it needs a nickname like the Red River has. The Red River is referred to as the Mighty Red. The Wild Rice River needs a name like the Red has that speaks of its path of disruption and domination.
It appears that the mighty Red in Fargo is nearing its crest a little early. That’s good news! Let’s just hope the rain holds off this weekend. Optimism is settling in now that we will be spared the devastating river levels that were predicted.
Here area a few pictures taken yesterday on South River Road just north of Lindenwood Park. Some of the homes have been razed making room for some clay dikes in between the sandbags. I have some video of my friend Mary Ekstrom’s home being demolished a week ago. I’ll see about getting that video posted sometime soon.
As of 2:30 pm on Friday we are just a little more than 6†below flood stage. Dump trucks full of clay and flatbeds loaded with sandbags are racing from one end of our little town to nearly every spot along the Sheyenne River within the City limits. Soon we will start to close bridges in “The City of Bridges†and be limited to one exit in the north of town and one exit to the interstate south of town.
I was walking through the park to get a couple of photos of two of the bridges in town. I have been taking photos of each bridge as the water rises.
You can see those comparative photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/CollinsStevenA/CityOfBridges02#
The last two nights I have traded in my normal workout to aid the sandbag effort. Wednesday night I was directed to Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead. I was disappointed greatly by the low turnout. Riding the bus to zone 7 was myself and one other young man. He was from Moorhead and still lived in the area with his wife. The flood is very personal for us and we were excited to help out. We had great conversation with our bus driver and we conversed how sad it is that more people aren’t out helping. Once we reached our site for the evening I realized instantly how unorganized it was. Sandbags weren’t on pallets, but rather in piles. We were directed toward the back yards and got in the sandbag line. The line consisted mostly of high school boys. I was disappointed in how immature they acted, yet I know it’s good that they were out helping. They definitely weren’t sandbag veterans though. Anyone who’s sandbagged a lot knows that you definitely don’t throw bags, it’s way to exhausting. You pass them, two arms, in a zig zag line. My body was exhausted after hours of playing the sandbag throwing game with these young men. Tonight was the absolute opposite experience. It was once again a quiet turnout, but I went to Scheels Arena tonight. It was once again myself and another man that were driven out to a home in need. There was a total of about ten of us. We not only had to place bags, we had to make them from scratch. There was a pile of sand, shovels, cones and bags. It reminded me of 2009, oldschool sandbagging. We all worked hard though. Traded sandbagging stories from years passed. We joked about the pressure you felt trying to keep up with the spider machine at sandbag central, especially when you couldn’t get the bags open fast enough. It was a group of professional people, all wanting to help the community. We made a huge dent in the project, but there’s still a lot more to do. I hope tons of people show up tomorrow to help! We were even thanking with homemade chili and brownies 
If you haven’t gone out and helped at all this flood season, you really should think about it. You’ll probably meet some amazing people, and you’ll feel great about helping the community. I always think, if I was in the same situation, I sure hope that people would be willing to help me out.
As the flood of 2011 is in full swing all I keep thinking about is getting this over with. I’m ready for the warmer temperatures, I’m ready for the kids to be able to play outside, I’m ready to get fresh air in my house with open windows, I’m ready not to see clay being hauled, I’m ready for a different season around here; one that doesn’t include flooding or flood talk.Â
This year’s flood has really amazed me with how different it seems to be from the flood of 2009. Fields just don’t seem to have water in them like they normally have. Some ditches don’t even have any water in them. Like I keep hearing the radio commentaries today state, “Where is all this water coming from?â€Â I agree, there doesn’t seem to be water in areas I traditionally see it in during a flood.
Out in Oxbow the permanent plan continues to prove our town is able to fight record floods. No water in our streets, sandbagging a few spots and houses, and a sense of confidence out of all of us. Oxbow residents are very vocal in their appreciation to our city leaders for all of the work that has been done to protect our infrastructure and homes but to say it again; thank you Jim and City Council members.
Yesterday when I went to work I headed North on Highway 81, no water in the fields. I thought, wow, this is great. Then on my way home about 12 hours later heading South on Highway 81 the road is closed. Amazing how fast that happened. There is a part of the highway just North of Oxbow that closes very early in a flood fight as there is a dip in the road to allow the Wild Rice River water to make its way to the Mighty Red. It’s a small inconvenience, but one that we are all willing to deal with for a few weeks out of the year.Â
There were two headlines on inforum.com today that I was struck by as they were discussing thoughts I have been having. One was titled This Year’s Flood Fight Has Been Orderly March. For those around in 1997 do you remember that madness? There was nothing but sheer panic in every direction. As I saw a semi-trailer pulling into Oxbow earlier in the week loaded with sandbags I couldn’t believe how many lessons we have all learned and how prepared we have become. Sandbags coming on semi-trailers? Who would have thought? The best sound of the 1997 flood was the dump truck pulling into my parent’s driveway with our load of sand so we could feverishly bag it and then wait for the next load.
The other headline I appreciated was Youth Movement in F-M Flood Fight. I’m glad these young adults are getting the thanks and praise they deserve. Our Kindred Vikings were doing the same thing in Oxbow this week. Thank you to each young person for your efforts no matter what school you go to. Â
Here are some images from the Oxbow area. Good luck to all in your flood fight!
