Better news for Fargo today. At this point the Red River seems to have stopped rising as fast and may even have crested. It is currently at historic record levels of 40 and a half feet or so. The problem remains critical, as all of the man made dikes must hold for days and possibly even weeks. That is asking a great deal of semi-frozen bags of sand and plastic and clay. The other problem is that the river could still change her mind and rise unexpectedly.
I actively dislike most meteorologists, but one of the pretty young ladies from the Weather Channel had an excellent point just now on MSNBC.
There is some good news, but
~ snip ~
“we are staying at this elevated level. You know we are still above record levels on the stage of this river, which is just incredible, and it is going to stay there for days to come. So even though maybe we are not going to top that levy, it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to breach it still. That’s a lot of pressure, a lot of power from that water, and when you are talking about a man made dike like that…we’re talking sand bags, you know, this is just sand trying to hold away a river. So there is no guarantee that we are out of the woods just yet.”
Yeah. The situation has eerie similarities to the Red River flood in Grand Forks in 1997. They kept raising the crest predictions and we had a couple of days where we thought we might make it. And then the dike breached about four blocks from our home and the Red River began to fill the city with water.
My best advice, if you live in any of the threatened areas in Minnesota or North Dakota? Empty your basements. Sandbag around your homes, if you can. Volunteer however you are able, and if the waters start coming in, leave.
3 comments