http://nd.water.usgs.gov/index/rrfaqs.html
Posted on 03/30/2006 1:36:31 PM PST by wallcrawlr
FARGO, N.D. - Mayor Bruce Furness declared an emergency Thursday to help the city prepare for spring flooding. Officials said they closed some streets near the Red River but they believe the city is in good shape.
"We've decided again to provide free sandbags to people along the river. And at this point, we think it's just a very few people," Furness said.
"I want to emphasize that it's not a real critical situation at this point, but it is one that we have concern about," the mayor said. "We've ordered sand, we've ordered pumps to do the pumping that we don't have ourselves."
The National Weather Service warned of major flooding in the Fargo and Wahpeton areas due to a combination of runoff and rainfall. An emergency declaration is aimed at helping free up resources for the flood fight.
The latest forecast said the Red is projected to reach 36 feet in Fargo early next week. Flood stage in the city is 18 feet.
Forecasters said the area could get up to an inch of rain Friday, with heavier thunderstorms in some areas.
Fargo Public Works Director Dennis Walaker said Thursday the river is rising about 3 feet in Fargo every 24 hours. City officials are setting up an emergency operations center, he and Furness said, and plans were being made for a temporary levee downtown.
"Right now, the city's in pretty good shape and there's no reason to get too excited about anything," Walaker said. "We'll keep everybody informed."
The weather service also warned of flooding in the Wahpeton area, along the Sheyenne River near Kindred, and in small streams in Cass County.
Gov. John Hoeven planned to fly over the river on Thursday from Wahpeton to the Canadian border.
Here's a look at the chance of "major" flooding at selected cities in the Red River Valley and adjacent areas:
• Alvarado, Minn.: 13 percent.
• Crookston: 15 percent.
• Drayton, N.D.: 35 percent.
• Fargo-Moorhead: Greater than 90 percent.
• Grafton, N.D.: Less than 10 percent.
• Grand Forks-East Grand Forks: 24 percent.
• Hallock, Minn.: Less than 10 percent.
• Halstad, Minn.: Less than 10 percent.
• Hillsboro, N.D.: Less than 10 percent.
• Minto, N.D.: Less than 10 percent.
• Neche, N.D.: 24 percent.
• Oslo, Minn.: 27 percent.
• Pembina, N.D.: 23 percent.
• Roseau, Minn.: Less than 10 percent.
• Shelly, Minn.: Less than 10 percent.
• Walhalla, N.D.: Less than 10 percent.
• Warren, Minn.: Less than 10 percent.
...And Absolutely no more blowing up the levees!!
http://nd.water.usgs.gov/index/rrfaqs.html
If things were much flatter there, it wouldn't flow at all. I was in Grand Forks for the '79 flood.
Really?
Me too.
I lived across the street from Riverside Park. (the tennis courts)
I was in grad school at UND, and lived about a mile off campus over toward Happy Harry's somewhere. Most of my experience there was living and working in basements. After a year I got a job in the oil industry and didn't much look back except for a couple of friends.
Interesting.
Of course its not really a "big" city but we were close.
I can agree with your sentiment...there isnt anything worth going back for (besides visiting the grandparents).
I'll never forget the '79 flood. All that water in my house...watching the national guard and residents filling sand bags just off my front lawn.
Memories of a 7 yr old.
It was quite an experience, even for me at 23.
One of my Lab students was a pilot, and somewhere I have slides of I-29 with only interchanges out of the water going off into the distance, taken from the air. It looked a lot different from a couple thousand feet up.
interesting perspective from someone actually doing the work
The part that blew my mind was the sound of payloaders about a week later, digging up the dikes a multitude of people had built on short notice.
When I asked if there was any plan to make them permanent, people looked at me like I was from another planet, not just another state.
That was also instrumental in my moving away, as well. It was only a question of when it would happen again, not if.
Well of course they did build up the dikes after that.
(But obviously they werent high enough for the 97 flood, they were only built up to a 100 yr flood level)
I have good memories sledding down them growing up.
Its a tricky deal having the Red melt down south. Combine that with a quick snowmelt and its disaster.
The Red River flows into Manitoba - first into Lake Winnipeg, which empties into the Nelson River and then Hudson Bay.
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