Twin cities prepare for worst

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This article was published 23/03/2009 (6040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Flooding in Fargo-Moorhead could hit the highest levels in the twin cities’ recorded history by Friday.

Fargo-Moorhead and surrounding areas were inundated with bad news Sunday with a new predicted Red River flood crest that now could reach 39 to 41 feet and arrive as early as Friday — a foot higher and day earlier than originally forecast.

Fargo has contingency plans for an evacuation.

Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker pleaded for stepped-up volunteer efforts as the city races to prepare for a flood that now appears likely to surpass the flood of 1997, which crested at 39.57 feet.

The worst recorded flood in Fargo’s history was 1897, when the Red River climbed to 40.1 feet.

City officials have been notified that at least 25 employers are releasing their employees to join the flood fight, along with Cass County Jail inmates, North Dakota State University football players, and public school students in grades 9 through 12.

"Volunteers — it’s time to take this thing seriously," Walaker said in a news conference Sunday afternoon, as a light rain began falling — the beginning of several days of forecasted heavy rains falling on ground already saturated from fall rains and a sudden spring thaw.

To handle the higher crest, the number of sandbags needed to protect Fargo has jumped to two million — a daunting task given the next couple of days of rains turning to snow expected to hamper efforts at a critical time.

The most immediate focus in Fargo: neighborhoods along the river between 32nd and 40th avenues south, an area that will require an estimated 350,000 sandbags.

Police Chief Keith Ternes urged motorists to choose north-south routes as far from the river as possible and to use Interstates 29 and 94, if possible.

"What’s scary right now is the weather," Walaker said, noting that the city’s past flood fights generally occurred in favourable weather.

Conditions will become especially difficult after temperatures fall below freezing Tuesday and Wednesday, making sandbags rigid and resulting in a porous barrier.

Despite the mounting challenges, the mayor said he remains "cautiously optimistic" the area will be able to beat the flood, as it has in many years past.

He estimated earthen dikes were mostly complete late Sunday, with some nearly complete. The higher crest, however, means dikes now must be raised another foot or so.

Still, the mayor said contingency plans are being made for an evacuation, in the event that becomes necessary, and people should take precautions, including moving valuable possessions upstairs.

One fear, Walaker said, is that the Sheyenne and Wild Rice rivers will flood overland and merge with the Red River — a confluence of water several miles wide that would have to make its way through the narrow funnel formed by levees in Fargo and Moorhead.

"This is a real panic for all of us," said Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland.

 

— Fargo Forum