From bad to worse in Fargo

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This article was published 27/03/2009 (6345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FARGO, N.D. — Bad news turned dire Thursday for North Dakota residents scrambling in subfreezing temperatures to pile sandbags along the Red River.

After they spent the day preparing for a record crest of 12.5 metres, forecasters added 50 centimetres to their estimate.

The first estimate sparked urgency among thousands of volunteers in Fargo but the second sparked doubts about whether a 13-metre-high wall of water could be stopped. Across the river in Moorhead, Minn., City Manager Michael Redlinger said portions of his city’s dike could not be easily raised to withstand a 13-metre crest.

"Now everything’s up in the air," he said.

The old estimate was 12.5 metres by Saturday afternoon and thousands of volunteers had laboured throughout the day to raise the dikes around North Dakota’s largest city to 13 metres. City and emergency officials had said they were confident the city would make it but will now have to build higher.

The U.S. National Weather Service said in guidance issued late Thursday afternoon the Red could reach 13 metres. It said water levels could remain high for up to a week — a lengthy test of on-the-fly flood control.

Even before Thursday’s revised estimate, official briefings in Fargo had lost the jokes and quips that had broken the tension earlier in the week. Instead, Thursday’s meeting opened with a prayer.

"We need all the help we can get," Mayor Dennis Walaker said.

The city of 92,000 unveiled a contingency evacuation plan Thursday afternoon but at least four nursing homes already had begun moving residents by then.

Officials in Moorhead earlier called for voluntary evacuations for several hundred homes on the city’s south side.

The sandbag-making operation at the Fargodome churned as furiously as ever, sending fresh bags out to an estimated 6,000 volunteers who endured temperatures below 20 degrees in the race to sandbag.

"I was skeptical as far as volunteers coming out today, but they’re like mailmen," said Leon Schlafmann, Fargo’s emergency management director.

"They come out rain, sleet or shine."

Gov. John Hoeven, heading into a planning meeting in Fargo, urged residents not to let up.

"We know they’re tired but we need to hang in there and continue the work," he said.

Hoeven was calling for 500 more National Guard members to join 900 already part of the effort.

— The Associated Press