Aerial View of Missouri River flooding (ND)

flickr ^ | 5.29-11 | Bill Prokopyk

[WOBBLY BOB]

Aerial view of the Missouri River from a North Dakota National Guard Black Hawk helicopter in the vicinity of Bismarck and Mandan, N.D., on May 29, 2011. When these photos were taken, the river was at about 15.74 feet with a garrison release flow of 80,000 cubic feet per second.

[tinamina]

Shows how well informed you are. North Dakota is the most prosperous State right now because of OIL that is being developed over there. I hope this flood doesn’t destroy those oil fields. Besides all the farmland in the West...8 times the average snowfall here in Montana which hasn’t even started to melt yet, but when it does, the Missouri River will carry it...No crops this summer much of anywhere. And lots of flyover country Americans out of their homes. Where I am in the middle of Montana there have already been huge floods and I may be the only one in my neighborhood who hasn’t suffered water damage yet. We don’t know if we can get groceries here next week because all the roads are washed out. Look up ROUNDUP, MT and Lewistown MT flooding to see what is happening here already.

[tinamina]

http://www.lewistownnews.com/articles/2011/06/02/news/doc4de6bc50e3b15973891666.txt

This is wheat and cow country, no ethanol here, but this flooding is from rainfall, not snow melt. It’s been too cold for snowmelt yet. Go stock up on meat and grains.

[bgill]

It’s good they have friends and family to go to.

[WOBBLY BOB]

N.D. ranks second in nation for economic performance
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/149938/

North Dakota economy booms, population soars

North Dakota is enjoying an oil boom in the western part of the state, drawing workers from across the country. Williston, in oil country, grew 17.6% to 14,716. The oil windfall has created a $1 billion state budget surplus.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2011-03-16-north-dakota-census_N.htm

[WOBBLY BOB]

BISMARCK — North Dakota’s Garrison Dam opened its emergency spillway gates for the first time today, and the river is expected to rise for the next several days.

Army Corps of Engineers project manager Todd Lindquist says the gates are being used because Lake Sakakawea has almost reached its water storage limit.

The gates have never been used to dump water out of Lake Sakakawea since the dam began operating in the 1950s. Lindquist says the release will be controlled by opening the gates by about a foot. There are 28 gates and they’ll be opened in groups of seven.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/205323/group/homepage/

[Grams A]

Prayers up for you all.

[SoldierDad]

That’s not good. Any word on how long the river is expected to be at flood stage?

[redhead]

"That’s not good. Any word on how long the river is expected to be at flood stage?"

From what I understand, the mandatory evacuation orders told residents of Minot to be prepared to be away for about two weeks. But there have been flood warnings up along all the major rivers for over a month. I'm surprised that there has been so little news about this, as it has been ongoing for some time.

[SoldierDad]

My wife’s younger sister called both her cell, and mine, with a cryptic message that it was vital that one of us return her call. When my wife returned her call it was all about the flooding and evacuation order. I’m not sure what she expected from us being here in CA.

[redhead]

I know the feeling. My daughter-in-law is especially bummed out at even the thought of being stranded.

I thought you might be interested in this simple weather map from weatherunderground.com. Now, it looks like they will get to see whitecaps on their floodwaters. Woopeee.

[Pining_4_TX]

Is this flood man-made?

http://www.kfab.com/pages/voorhees.html?article=8659238

Tom Daschle has some ‘splainin’ to do.

[Smokin' Joe]

For the last couple of decades ND residents near Lake Sakakaweja have been told the spring releases from the Garrison Dam were being done to float barge traffic down river to extend the commercial shipping season. Friends who retired on lakefront property saw the lake level decline to the point they were half a mile from the water, and the whole time the Corps was repeating the mantra about the economic necessity of barge traffic. Businesses folded, boat ramps were high and dry, lake access was limited and the local sport fishing and tourism industry suffered outrageously, but some barges at St. Louis were more important.

What is happening now is the result of record snowfall over the winter and continuing rain.

I'm not sure what was done in the Oahee Reservoir, but Ft. Peck and Sakakaweja have been kept low over the last few decades on the premise of facillitating navigation downstream.