The Missouri, the Red and the good people of ND

Anyone who owns a TV or radio and listens to or watches the news knows by now that ND is under attack by Mother Nature - again. I’m a daily reader of the Bismarck Tribune online and am keeping apprised of the situation that way. Readers are sending in pictures that are pretty incredible to me. http://bismarcktribune.com/shared-content/story_tools/slideshow/?type=slideshow&id=89 Amazing. This is a state where water is usually in short supply. The winter of 2008-2009 was brutal there with record snowfalls, weekly blizzards, ridiculously strong winds, and below-zero temperatures. And now the good people of the state are facing another challenge – keeping the rising waters from the state’s rivers out of their homes, schools and businesses. In the center of the state, just south of Bismarck, the normally lazy Missouri River was choked with massive ice jams that were backing the water up into the lower-lying areas of the city. Yesterday, the National Guard, the Corps of Engineers, and a private explosives company worked together to first salt the ice, then, drill and pack holes with explosives before blowing it up. Early reports this morning indicate that worked…the river is flowing again and the water levels are down by 2 feet. However, the students in three elementary schools will be attending classes in other, safer school locations, many businesses are still closed or relocated, and many city streets and highways remain under water. High-school and college kids are still filling and stacking sandbags. North of the city, another massive ice jam is holding water, too. This one is perhaps the biggest threat to Bismarck since water behind that jam is coming, in part, from the runoff at the Garrison Dam. That Garrison Dam runoff was stopped Tuesday by the Corp of Engineers but the reports I read said water from that runoff would continue to build downstream until today. Should that ice jam break suddenly and release its water and ice downstream, the effect could be devastating. Reports are that some of the ice chunks are 4ft thick and the size of a small car – that’s just big by every standard I know. Typically, it’s the cities on the eastern border that get the attention because they flood pretty much every year. The kicker there is two-fold: it’s flat so once the river is out of its banks, it has nothing to stop it; it just goes on spreading for miles. Secondly, the Red flows north. You get the picture…as temperatures in the south rise and snowmelt there flows into the Red, temperatures in the north are still at or below freezing; nothing’s melting there. So, when the water flowing north hits the still-frozen river further north, it has no where to go but up and over its banks. Grand Forks’ downtown was wiped out a few years’ back when the Red River crested over the sandbag dikes and flooded into the city. Fires broke out and whole city blocks were destroyed – there was no way to get firefighting equipment to the fires. It seems strange, doesn’t it? Surrounded by water but no way to put out the fires. After the water receded, the city of Grand Forks decided to build a drainage ditch around the city to handle excess water in times of extreme flooding. Since then, the city has been high and dry every spring while Fargo floods. Fargo, home of my alma mater NDSU, is getting nailed again, and this year promises to be the granddaddy of all floods. The Red River is forecast to crest at 41ft on Saturday; flood stage is 18ft. For the last week, thousands of volunteers have worked day and night filling sandbags to create a 43-ft dike along both sides of the river. They needed 2 million sandbags…I can’t even imagine what 2 million sandbags look like but my shoulders hurt just thinking about it. I worked the sandbag line in college so I know how much work it is to fill, carry and stack sandbags. And I know how tired you are at the end of your shift. Add to that, the fact that temperatures are still only in the 20s, so it’s cold, too. Plus (and you knew this was coming, didn’t you), the wind never stops in ND, and they just had a blizzard drop 8-inches of new snow this week. So, you’ve got cold, wet and wind…not the best working conditions. Area schools, colleges and universities have cancelled classes, and businesses have excused employees who want to help out. Word has gone out on MySpace, Craig’s List and over email…more volunteers are needed. And to the credit of people in the upper Midwest, they’ve responded in full force; not because they’re expecting any kind of kudos or pay, but because it’s what people in the upper Midwest do. When help is needed, they just help. It’s how they were raised and it’s how they live their lives. People are pouring in by the busloads and working in 4-hour shifts, 24-hours a day. They’re sleeping wherever they can find a open spot, and they’re eating whatever food is brought to them by the Red Cross or other volunteers, and they're doing it all with a smile on their faces because it's one way they can help. I had an email from an NDSU friend yesterday after the blizzard went through this week. She and her husband live in Bismarck now and I’d emailed to make sure they were safe. In her reply, she said her husband was out helping sandbag. Of course, prior to that, he’d first had to dig the car out so he could get gas for their snow blower, he’d blown open their driveway, then, helped his sister move everything out of her basement...then, he went sandbagging. I got tired just thinking about it. Here’s a link to an NDSU website that shows a ruler with the current water level given – scroll down a bit and you’ll see the yellow ruler on the left side of the page. It makes it very easy to understand just how fast the water is coming up on the Red. Remember, the flood stage is 18ft. As I write this, the level is at 38.67ft and rising. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/fargoflood/ So, keep the good folks of ND and the upper Midwest in your thoughts. The next few days will be critical.