Calling in

I did something Friday night that I’ve never done before. I called in to a talk show and spoke with the hosts. The subject was one very close to my heart and one that has kept me captivated over the past week – namely, the Flood Fight in ND.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that one of the co-hosts is a dear friend of mine from college days and beyond – John Strand. That’s him on the left - I took some screen shots before calling in.

John had emailed late Thursday to say that he was going to co-host a Fargo radio talk show that evening. The midnight to 5am show was being used to disseminate flood information to the Fargo/Moorhead area. He’d included the web link and invited us to call in with questions, share comments and concerns, or just to say hello. I didn't see that email until the next morning. I emailed and told him I felt bad for missing it.

He emailed later that day and said he would be on again that evening. So, I clicked on just after 10pm my time (midnight his time) and listened for about a half-hour before dialing in. The guy answering the phone asked for my first name and where I was calling from; then placed me on hold after saying I would be the next person they talked with. At the time, they were talking with a woman who was manning the local volunteer hotline – she was giving volunteers information about where they were needed, what types of things needed doing, or numbers to call for other types of information. She talked about the spirit of the volunteers. How it made her feel that so many people – 80,000 volunteers in all – had stepped up, hour-after-hour, through the cold, snow and wind, to save the homes, businesses and lives of the Fargo/Moorhead area residents. Think of that – 80,000 volunteers. Fargo’s total population – men, women, children, cats and dogs – is just over 90,000. She said she hoped that the rest of the nation would see how this community of volunteers, working together, had managed to fill and place over 3 million sandbags. That working together can produce tremendously positive results – and maybe that was a lesson a lot of people in the world needed to take away from this…it’s about helping each other in times of crisis; not just helping ourselves. She talked about the bone-tiredness of volunteers at the end of a 4-hour shift. But how, just 6 hours later, those same volunteers would be back on the line ready to help again. People, she said had come from all over the Midwest, by the busloads and carloads, to help. The volunteers were of all ages. Those who weren't able to fill or place sandbags were helping prepare and deliver food and supplies. Some were manning phones or setting up off-site shelters. Others who were too far away to lend a physical hand were calling to find out how they could help monetarily or emotionally. When it was finally my turn, John said there was a caller from Washington state named Sue…and he thought he might just know who that was. Then, he turned to the camera and with a wide smile on his face, waved and yelled “Hi Susy!” (Those college nicknames never seem to go away, do they?) I’m slightly embarrassed to say I waved back – and I didn’t have a web cam on.

John explained who I was, that both Randy and I had graduated from NDSU in Fargo, and that we still had many friends and relatives in the area and the state. He asked what people here in Vancouver and Portland were saying about the flood, and asked what our feelings were about being so far away while people we knew and cared about were fighting for their homes. We talked about the spirit of ND and her people. We talked about our sandbagging days in college. And we talked about our college friends – now pillars of the community – who were fighting to save their homes. Since Friday, I’ve tuned in a couple more times; listening to volunteers and residents talk about what keeps them going; listening to callers from out-of-state tell why this flood and the overwhelming volunteer response to it keeps them tuned in and hanging on…how they feel a camaraderie with the people there.

John emailed yesterday that he'll continue hosting the midnight-5am (Central time) shift “until the crisis is over.” Unfortunately, with the state in the throes of yet another blizzard, that could be awhile!

Keep up the good work, John and all of you volunteers. My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Fargo/Moorhead and throughout the state as you fight this battle in bitter cold temperatures, biting wind and seemingly never-ending snow.

Red River update

As of 10:15 AM Pacific time, the Red River is at 40.66 and still rising quickly.

• Bismarck has cancelled school sporting events and is preparing its gyms for use as evacuation centers.
• Fargo has started evacuating its nursing homes and hospitals to other, safer locations. Neo-natal infants are already transferring into MedCenter One in Bismarck.
• A section of Fargo just south of the downtown is under mandatory evacuation after a small breach was found overnight in a dike there. From the reports I've read, it sounds like they've managed to stem that flow but people are not being allowed back in.
• People living in other parts of the city are being told to prepare for evacuation; those in the most critical areas are being asked to relocate children and pets immediately.
• And I know I usually have harsh words for Northwest Airlines but today, it's making a difference and deserves a pat on the back...NW has moved 2 airliners to Fargo that will be used to help with evacuation.

My stupid person award today goes to:

• An CNN photographer who climbed up on a sandbag dike to shoot photos.

The photographer was promptly arrested. Kudos to the officer making the arrest!

Sheesh...a picture might be worth a thousand words but is it really worth putting the lives and homes of thousands of people at risk? People have been ordered to stay off the dikes for fear additional weight will compromise them further. Some people just have no common sense.

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.

ND Winters

I was born and raised in North Dakota so I know about winter. I know about the bone-chilling cold, blocked roads, houses that never really get warm, layering on lots of clothes before heading outside, and I know all about headbolt heaters. And while it wasn't really ND winters that made me leave ND, I'm awfully glad I'm not there this winter "enjoying" the 60 inches of snow and artic temperatures they've had. I've included a photo that my mother-in-law snapped yesterday morning. And yes, that is 42 below zero. I do remember a three-day blizzard back in 1966 (does that sound like a line from an old western movie?). [Ed. note: I'd originally typed 1996 but it should be 1966 - thanks, Kim.] The weather was so bad that my Dad was unable to get to the barn...he couldn't even see the trees in our shelter belt through the blowing snow. Here's an arial photo of our farm taken over 30 years ago. As you can see, the house in which we lived was pretty much out in the open and a long way from the barn where the cattle were.

For three days the blizzard raged and Dad had no idea if the cattle were safe inside the barn or buried under the snow.

When it was all over, we discovered a ten-foot snow bank in front of the barn. Here's a picture of my sister Janis and me (in on the right) standing on the snow bank. See that little 4-paned window on the left? The bottom of that window is about ten feet from the ground. Oh, and the cattle were fine. They'd all taken shelter inside the barn. They were thirsty and hungry but they were alive. Thinking back, the one I really feel sorry for was Mom. After all, how do you keep five kids entertained during a blizzard? Remember, this was ND in the 60s; we could get 2, maybe 3 channels on our black-and-white television. Our house wasn't large; my two sisters and I shared one large bedroom upstairs and my two brothers shared the other. That was pretty much it for the upstairs. We didn't have a theater room or a great room or a game room; in my house, the living room was where we...lived. When the blizzard was over, my older brother Dennis conned me into helping him build a tree house. Granted, building a treehouse in March isn’t the norm in ND but since the snow drifts were 15-ft high in the trees, it kinda made sense. Well, we were young so it made sense to us.

We didn’t have to climb the trees to get to the right height; we simply carried the boards over, climbed up a few branches and nailed them in place. It wasn’t until the snow started to melt that I realized I’d been conned. You see, as the snow melted, the lower branches were exposed. Dennis simply sawed off those branches so I couldn’t reach them. Here’s a picture of our soon-to-be treehouse with me holding the first branch in place. I can’t imagine either of my sisters would have allowed their kids to do this when they were our age. And I’m sure my Mom wasn’t all that happy about it but remember, she’d just spent three very l-o-n-g days locked up in a house with us! She was probably just happy we weren’t inside. But one really good thing did come out of that blizzard though; I learned to knit.