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'Big push' under way Major effort needed today in flood fightFargo officials are calling for another massive volunteer effort from area residents to get sandbag dikes finished by tonight in backyards threatened by rising water in drains and creeks.
By: By Mike Nowatzki and Helmut Schmidt, INFORUM


One of Doug Stensgard’s dogs, Annie, looks out Tuesday over what used to be a 5-acre yard and an outbuilding that is now flooded by the rising Red River in Fargo. Stensgard built an earthen and sandbag dike around his home in the hope of holding back the floodwaters. Associated Press

Volunteers build up a wall of sandbags Tuesday along the amphitheater at Trollwood Performing Arts School in south Moorhead. The stage was moved from north Fargo to south Moorhead to bypass spring floods, but because of the rainy fall season the current landscaping is not far enough along to prevent flooding. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

Fargo officials are calling for another massive volunteer effort from area residents to get sandbag dikes finished by tonight in backyards threatened by rising water in drains and creeks.
With cold weather expected to follow overnight rain and snow, Mayor Dennis Walaker said at a news conference Tuesday that the window of opportunity to build strong dikes is small, but doable.
“(Today’s) our big push,” Walaker said, adding that he wants all areas of the city protected to a flood stage of 42 feet by the end of the day.
“We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress on the south side of Fargo. We need one more day,” Walaker said.
“We need to go another 24 hours” of delivering and making sandbags, he said. “We need a really good day.”
Dike and levee construction in most of the vulnerable areas of Fargo was 70 percent or more finished Tuesday, city figures indicated. But some spots, such as along Drain 27 in southwest Fargo, and North Terrace in the northside Oak Grove area need to be addressed today, officials said.
“We’ve had two great days in a row,” Walaker said in calling for another big effort. “The confidence comes with what we saw today.”
If sandbagging takes too long, overnight temperatures in the teens through the weekend could “create havoc” in placing sandbags, Walaker said. If there is a positive with the cold, it will slow the flow of the spring melt and the rise of the river, he said.
City engineers expected to inspect all dikes overnight to see where they needed to be bolstered, with sandbagging starting in earnest again today at 8 a.m.
Walaker said a contingency plan in case of dike failures will be released Thursday, as will an emergency evacuation plan. He did not elaborate on those plans.
The river at Fargo surpassed major flood stage of 30 feet at about 8 a.m. and had risen to 32.8 feet by 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. The National Weather Service’s Web site shows the river hitting a crest of 40 feet at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Thousands of college, high school and middle school students responded to desperate pleas for volunteers Tuesday in Fargo and Moorhead. They passed sandbags so quickly in spots in Fargo and Moorhead that at times they outstripped the ability of officials to get finished bags or bags and sand to them, Walaker said.
“The kids did fantastic,” he said.
North Dakota State University President Joseph Chapman said there won’t be school today or Thursday so students and staff can continue to volunteer in the flood fight.
Fargo middle and high school students will also be allowed to continue sandbagging, said Dan Huffman, assistant superintendent for business services. Huffman said more than 2,100 students volunteered Tuesday.
Fargo Oak Grove Lutheran School students will also be joining the flood fight again today.
About 700 to 800 students from Hatton and Grand Forks, N.D., also volunteered to sandbag Tuesday.
In addition, about 800 North Dakota Army and Air National Guard members were taking part in the flood fight on the Fargo side of the Red River, and hundreds more were working on the Minnesota side.
So far, Fargo volunteers have made 1.3 million of the 2 million sandbags the city needs, said city Enterprise Director Bruce Grubb. He said sandbag-making at the Fargodome and the city’s garbage facility will continue 24 hours a day until the goal is met.
“We’re diking where we’ve never diked before,” said Fargo City Engineer Mark Bittner.
Fargo is looking at building contingency levees near City Hall, the Oak Grove neighborhood, at South River Road to protect the water plant, River Drive south of 32nd Avenue South to about 40th Avenue South, and along Rose Creek south of 40th Avenue, Bittner said.
Officials were encouraged that the Red River at Wahpeton, N.D., appeared headed for a crest of about 18 feet, which would be almost 1½ feet lower than the 1997 crest.
National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Riddle said the river at Wahpeton barely rose from 17.49 feet to 17.50 feet from 8 to 9 a.m. As of 9 p.m. it had fallen to 17.3 feet.
Still a major concern for Fargo, Riddle said, is water from the Wild Rice River at Abercrombie, which was at 27.43 feet at 9:15 p.m. – just over 17 feet above flood stage – and is projected to hit a record 29 feet Thursday morning.
Fargo Police Chief Keith Ternes asked motorists to yield to truck drivers who are transporting sandbags, and also to slow down to avoid sandbags that have fallen off trucks into the roadway. He also asked residents with non-emergency questions not to call 911.
In the Oak Creek and Meadow Creek and Rose Creek areas of south Fargo on Tuesday, lines of middle school, high school and college students snaked from streets, through side and backyards roiled with churned-up muck, passing sandbags to build dikes against flooding expected as the drains to the Red River start filling.
Preston Brekhus, 15, a Fargo South Campus II student, was covered from head to toe in mud by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. He’d been sandbagging for three hours before taking a break.
The best part of it? “That’s probably getting out of school,” Brekhus said.
The worst part? He picked at his mud-slicked pants and jacket. “The worst part is getting muddy, and it’s all cold.”
Oak Creek residents were grateful for the help.
“I think the people who’ve come are just amazing,” said Marion Harris, 4404 Oak Creek Drive. “I think everyone is just glad to have them here.”

***** So I went to the club last night for work and yes we did actually have some tables. The clubhouse looks beautiful but I don't see us working much more this week. I have tonight off from work and today the City is starting to build a dike that will run from the maintenance shop all the way across our parking lot and tie into the Southwood Dr dike. They are protecting the city, clubhouse be damned. So we will be sandbagging the clubhouse and hoping for the best. The city is using the Hesco containers that were used in new Orleans. They are big rectangular sections that can be hooked together and filled with sand. We will be able to get into the parking lot until they decide to close the entrance to the club.

We woke up to snow this morning. That will slow the river a tad, they are pushing to get as much done today. School was canceled for the elementary kids, so the kids are home today and they are going to be working. The scariest thing now is that the cities are getting ready to release evacuation plans just in case they are needed. That thought just terrifies me right now. But as with everything in life, you take it in stride and go with the flow. We will be as prepared as we can be I guess. lol We are signing up for Code Red so that we will be notified of neighborhood emergencies.

Chris's project is still a go so he is at work trying to work when he would rather be out helping with the sandbagging. Crystal Sugar apparently doesn't care if there is a flood. His deadline is Monday. I am waiting to hear if they are going to cancel the DI tournament on Sat. As of yesterday it was still on.

It is just absolutely surreal to see all of the helping hands. People are coming here from the cities to help. If even for a day. Concordia College in St Paul is busing up 103 people today - their football team, their basketball team. They left at 6 am this morning and will be home again at 11 PM. Just to help save our city. A friend from college came up yesterday to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So off for the day. I plan to get all the boxes and stuff up today, Furniture tonight and the we will assess the garage I guess. Don't know what to do about some of that. There is one tote in particular I need to find and loft. It has our wedding album in it I think. Don't ask me why it is out there. I don't know why. Oh and I have to get my nails done. Priorities. Have to look good for this flood no? haha! Cheers. :)