Floods cause havoc in US Midwest

[peaceandlove]

Your welcome WaitingInTheWings,

This just in 21 minutes ago.

Fargo Gets Good News: Flood Waters Appear to Crest

By DAVE KOLPACK and JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writers – 21 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – Fargo's fears of a catastrophic flood eased Saturday with word that the Red River apparently crested at lower-than-expected levels, and weary residents turned their attention to ensuring their hastily built levees hold up against an onslaught of ice-laden water expected to stay high for at least a week.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Hudson said the Red River began receding Saturday morning, surprising residents who were bracing for a crest on Sunday. But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot and may remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will still have to wait several days before they are completely safe.

Article continues with photos and videos: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090328/...dwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

I talked with a friend in Fargo and I guess, even though she lives far from the river, has taken everything out of her basement and brought it upstairs.

Because North Dakota is so flat, the water would spread over many miles of land if the Red River were to breach the dikes.

Red River Retreats, but Fargo Remains Vigilant



By NATE JENKINS and JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writers – 49 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – As the Red River slowly receded Sunday, Fargo was keeping a close eye on the many miles of sandbag levees that are the main line of defense against a potentially destructive flood that has had the city on edge for more than a week.

Residents who spent the better part of the week filling sandbags and building up dikes turned their attention to forming neighborhood patrols and monitoring levees for breaches. Fargo still fears that water could burst past the levees and submerge parts of the city.

The city had been bracing for a crest of up to 43 feet on Sunday, but instead learned Saturday that the river may have reached its peak. The weather service said the river crested around midnight Friday at 40.82 feet. It was at 40.34 feet early Sunday and dropping.

But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot and may remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will have to endure an agonizing several days before they reach the point they can relax.

Article continues with photos and videos: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090329/...dwest_flooding



THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS CONSIDERING FOOD SHORTAGES ALREADY FORECAST FOR THIS YEAR!



Grain silos are surrounded by floodwaters as the Red River continues to rise, Saturday, March 28, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)



Flooded farm equipment is seen surrounded by floodwaters as the Red River continues to rise, Saturday, March 28, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)



Houses right on the Red River on the southside of Fargo, North Dakota are separated by a secondary dike to protect houses farther inland in case the dike on the river fails March 28, 2009. Hoar frost is visible on the trees. Residents of the flood-swollen Red River Valley got a break from the weather on Saturday as cold temperatures prevented more winter thaw from swamping this city and flood barriers held, officials said. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson (UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENT DISASTER SOCIETY)



A worker builds a earthen dike down the middle of River Drive as the Red River continues to rise, Friday, March 27, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. This dike is a backup in case the sandbag dike behind the hoses shown gives way to rising floodwaters. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

[peaceandlove]

Fargo Officials Leak in Dike is Under Control

1 min ago

FARGO, N.D. – Fargo officials say workers were able to contain a breach in a dike on the city's north side early Sunday.

The city says a permanent flood wall panel buckled at Oak Grove Lutheran School about 1:30 a.m., sending water flowing onto campus. Shortly before 4 a.m., the city said the situation was under control, but monitoring would continue.

City spokeswoman Robyn Litke (LIT'-key) says the leak was not serious enough to warrant the evacuation of nearby residents.

Oak Grove's Web site says the breach happened in the steel dike on the north side of campus.

The city says the extent of damage to the school's campus or buildings is currently unknown.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090329/...dwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

Breach Sends Water Onto School Campus in Fargo

By NATE JENKINS and JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writers – 31 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – The slowly receding Red River breached a dike on the city's north side early Sunday, sending water flowing into buildings at a school campus before it could be contained, city and school officials said.

The extent of the damage at Oak Grove Lutheran School wasn't immediately known. The surrounding neighborhood was not evacuated, but residents in some areas were told to plug their sewers and monitor basements.

Principal Morgan Forness said city officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Guard unsuccessfully tried to contain the water to one building after a permanent flood wall panel at the school buckled around 1:30 a.m.

"They made a gallant effort ... but the power of the river is just too much," he told KFGO radio. "They gave it everything they had, and it just — we couldn't contain it. It came center of campus, and now, it's inundating all of the buildings."

The city said the flooding was caused by erosion and began when water came up through the floor of one building and infiltrated the rest of campus.

Article continues with photos and videos: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090329/...dwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

Fargo Mayor: More Levees will be Breached

By JAMES MacPHERSON and CARSON WALKER, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 1 min ago

FARGO, N.D. – The bloated Red River briefly breached a dike early Sunday, pouring water into a school campus and the mayor called it a "wakeup call" for a city that needs to be vigilant for weaknesses in levees that could give way at any time.

Excerpts:

To prevent additional dike breaches, officials planned to begin dropping one-ton sandbags from helicopters Sunday to deflect the violent current of the Red River and keep it from eroding vulnerable sections of the levees.

The aerial effort also includes Air Force Predator drones used to watching water patterns and ice floes from the air and help teams respond on the ground. It's the first time the drones have been used in a flood-fighting effort.

"I don't think there's an inch of riverfront on the Fargo side that doesn't have some kind of levee," said city engineer Mark Bittner. "We encourage neighborhoods to get together and have their own dike patrols and assist us."

Bruce Boelter walked a roughly mile-long stretch of sandbag dike to eyeball the manmade wall separating his subdivision and the Red River. Neighbor Tony Guck joined him halfway. Both had helped build the dike.

"If we don't protect this, it's gonna get us. It's basically for our own security," said Guck, 42.

The flooding was brought on by heavier-than-average winter snow, spring rain and a rapid thaw of the snowpack.

A winter storm was predicted to hit North Dakota Monday or Tuesday, although the snow isn't expected to affect the flooding in Fargo. Still, wind from the storm could cause 2-foot waves that might wash over the top of dikes, said Dave Kellenbenz, a weather service meteorologist.

The main focus now is whether the levees will be able to hold up against the weight of the river water, regardless of its level. Engineers say that anytime water is pressed up against a levee for a considerable period of time, there is a risk of catastrophic flooding.

"The saturation usually becomes the enemy of a levee over time," Jud Kneuvean, chief of emergency management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City. "It can cause the embankment to be less stable and slide."

Complete article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/midwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

Flooding in Fargo eases but winter storm moves in

By CARSON WALKER and NATE JENKINS, Associated Press Writers – 49 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – Weary residents welcomed the Red River's further retreat Monday but faced an approaching snowstorm expected to kick up wind-whipped waves that could threaten the sandbag levees they built to protect their city from a major flood.

Engineers weren't worried about the storm's snow because it's unlikely to melt soon. They were concerned, however, that waves crashing against the dikes could weaken them.

The higher the wind speed, the higher the threat, said Jeff DeZellar, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"The forecast that we saw was 25 mph or more, and certainly that's enough wind to create some wave action on the river," he said Monday.

National Guard members places sheets of plastic over the levees to help them hold up against high waves. "It's important to get as much work done as we can before the storm comes," DeZellar said.

Article continues: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/...dwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

Winter Storm Latest Test for Fargo's Levees

By DAVE KOLPACK and NATE JENKINS, Associated Press Writers – 57 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – A blizzard battered North Dakota on Monday, threatening to create wind-whipped waves that could lash the patchwork levee system that has shielded much of Fargo from the swollen Red River. Engineers scrambled to shore up the dikes in hopes of averting the latest potential disaster nature has inflicted on this beleaguered city.

The winter storm was expected to bring up to a foot of snow and 30 mph winds that could weaken the levees with big waves. Officials acknowledged that no one knows whether the levees will withstand the punishment.

Highlights:

But forecasters have warned all along that the river could still rise again. They believe the river could drop 2 more feet in the coming days before inching upward again.

Corps engineer Tim Bertschi said when water pressure gets strong enough, the sandbags can begin to shift, a weakness that surging water will quickly exploit.

Another potential problem is posed by large chunks of ice in the river's currents. When those chunks hit a levee, they can speed its erosion or punch holes in the plastic sheeting. Once water gets in, a levee becomes much more susceptible to failure.

"Anything you are going to build, you've got to suspect it's going to fail at one time or another," said Bill Buckler, an associate professor of geography at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

National Guardsmen Brandon Nelson and Cody Renner shuffled along a Fargo dike just south of downtown on Monday, headed toward their assignment for the day: Monitor a small crack in an earthen dike. Should the crack in the dike go unmonitored and widen significantly, it could put the heart of Fargo at risk of flooding.

So they checked the crack every 15 minutes, measuring its depth and prepared to notify the Army Corps of Engineers if it grew. Corps officials stood at the ready in a nearby parking lot.

Fargo's massive sandbagging began winding down after an around-the-clock volunteer effort. Fargo filled 3.5 million sandbags, and has an inventory of 450,000.

Officials in Fargo and Moorhead say they have limited the damage to a small number of homes within Fargo's city limits, but they have had to rescue about 300 people by boat, and several outlying rural areas have seen significant flooding.

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/...dwest_flooding



Kim Holland and her daughter Trinity, 7, look at an ice formation on a tree that indicates the height of floodwaters after the Red River receded in Oxbow, south of Fargo, North Dakota, March 29, 2009. A dike holding back the swollen Red River failed early on Sunday and swamped a school in Fargo, North Dakota, but a backup dike contained the spill as cold weather favored flood fighting and evacuation efforts. REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES)



Black hawk helicopter bringing in huge sand bag.
U.S. Army National Guard soldiers launch a large sheet of plastic with sandbag weights over the side of an earthen dike on the southside of Fargo, North Dakota March 30, 2009. Engineers hope the plastic barrier will help prevent erosion to the dike as snow followed by high winds and blizzard conditions enter the region. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson (UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENT DISASTER)



Snow begins to fall in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. A massive blizzard bore down on flood-ravaged North Dakota Monday as officials struggled to shore-up levees against potential erosion from high, powerful waves and swift moving waters. (AFP/Getty Images/Daniel Barry)



An aerial view shows farm equipment and vehicles parked near a farm that is surrounded by flood waters south of Fargo, North Dakota March 29, 2009. A dike holding back the swollen Red River failed early on Sunday and swamped a school in Fargo, North Dakota, but a backup dike contained the spill as cold weather favored flood fighting and evacuation efforts. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson (UNITED STATES DISASTER ENVIRONMENT)

THIS ONES FOR YOU ALYSCAT!!!



A cat looks out of its cage at an improvised animal shelter for pets displaced because of flooding in the area Sunday, March 29, 2009, in West Fargo, N.D. About 200 animals have been brought to the site at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds, including about 150 dogs and cats and at least 37 horses. The site also is the new home to a goat, mule, donkey and two potbellied pigs. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

[peaceandlove]

Red River recedes below most sandbags in Fargo, ND

By DAVE KOLPACK and NATE JENKINS, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 30 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – The Red River on Tuesday dropped to a level below most of Fargo's sandbag levees, taking some pressure off the makeshift floodwalls as engineers and National Guard troops watched for signs of leaks during a blinding snowstorm.

The river fell to 37.98 feet, an important threshold because the city's permanent levee system is built to about 38 feet in most spots, with temporary sandbags piled up to 43 feet.

Still, forecasters believe the river will eventually begin rising again after more snow begins to melt, so they do not believe the city is in the clear yet.

"This should give us a sigh of relief," Mayor Dennis Walaker said.

The National Weather Service said the bloated river is quickly draining because cold temperatures are limiting the amount of snow and ice that normally would melt and flow into the waterway.

But the storm added to the challenge of monitoring the dikes by producing a messy mix of mud and ice and dumping as much as 18 inches of snow.
Engineers in hard hats, life vests and steel-toe boots walked along earthen dikes, struggling to see through the blowing snow as they conducted inspections. In neighboring Moorhead, Minn., National Guardsmen went door to door in flood-prone areas to make sure sandbags were not leaking.

Trucks with snow plows rolled through Fargo despite having hardly any visibility. Snow blowers rumbled through the day. And cars slid all over the icy roads, including one driven by a teenager who slammed into a sheriff's department vehicle and nearly plummeted into the river.

Article continues with photos and video: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090331/...dwest_flooding

[alyscat]

Thanks for keeping us posted P&L - loved the cat... amazing weather this year. I"m glad you've been safe so far.
alys

[peaceandlove]

Fortunately the floodwaters have receded in the Red River Valley and hopefully will not rise again with the thaw.



Flood dampens North Dakota's economic success

By DAN SEWELL, AP Business Writer – Tue Mar 31, 5:49 pm ET

FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota has largely escaped the recession, enjoying slow but steady growth and even a budget surplus. But as the floodwaters begin to recede, the swollen Red River still threatens to wash away some of that prosperity.

One economist predicts the economic disruption will probably exceed $100 million in lost sales, missed pay for workers and crop-planting delays. And that figure could grow as the flood threat lingers.

Last week, Fargo officials urged "nonessential" businesses to shut down to keep streets clear for emergency workers. Now the city is under pressure to let them reopen.

Excerpt:

"We're doing pretty well," said Walaker, who appeared in a TV spot before the flood saying that "negative economic news doesn't apply here."

"The people are conservative. The bankers are very conservative. We don't have any subdivision where nobody lives there," Walaker said.

For those reasons, North Dakota has been a rare bright spot in the national recession.

Strong prices in the oil and agriculture industries have helped the state grow and kept unemployment low. It was at 4.2 percent in January, around half the national rate.

People here are also frugal. Many families acquired the habit during the ups and downs of farming and oil drilling, enabling North Dakota to avoid the brunt of the housing and credit crisis.

The state even has a nearly $1 billion budget surplus, but that has dwindled as oil and commodity prices have tumbled, and flood costs will eat into it further.

Article continues: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090331/...conomic_impact

[peaceandlove]

Fargo Update with Slideshow:

The Red River crested at Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn., late last month just short of 41 feet, after volunteers filled thousands of sandbags to raise levees above that mark. The Red's River's second crest at Fargo is projected to reach around 38 feet or 39 feet, slightly lower than earlier forecasts.

"It doesn't look quite as bad as we thought, as far what's coming towards us," Fargo City Commissioner Tim Mahoney said Monday. "But rain could change that."


Guard helps another ND town battle rising river

By DAVE KOLPACK, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 13, 2009

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Earthmoving equipment and National Guard helicopters hauled sand Monday to reinforce leaky dikes that led to evacuations in the town threatened by the Sheyenne River, the latest North Dakota stream to rise above its banks.

Twice in 12 hours police had gone knocking on doors, urging people to get out.

"It was just kind of disbelief, actually," said chiropractor Jeff Brown, who lives near one dike that had to be repaired Sunday night. He said he was in his backyard Sunday afternoon when "my daughter stuck her head out the window and said 'Dad, we have to evacuate.'"

Police came around with bullhorns to warn residents "like a scene out of a movie," he said.

Slideshow and Article continues: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090413/...dwest_flooding

[peaceandlove]

This is not good news for North Dakota and their large farming communities.

This morning I woke up to flooding in my backyard, not related to North Dakota flooding as I am about 2,000 miles away from there. Gratefully, I am not on the river, but many homes here are already flooded or compromised, many roads closed and septic tanks now being compromised. We expect to see FEMA soon who will be providing drinking water. (I have my own stored well water so hopefully I will not have to accept their fluoridated water.)

Mother Nature doing her thing, it's just man who is the fool for building homes so close to the river. The Indians had the right idea, being so mobile, just pack up the teepee and move to higher ground.



Dam Breaks, Residents of Small ND Town Evacuated

1 hr 13 mins ago

KATHRYN, N.D. – The North Dakota National Guard says residents have evacuated a small town because a dam has broken on a creek.

Guard Lt. Col. Rick Smith said everyone got out of the town of Kathryn during the morning Wednesday.

Kathryn has a population of about 50 to 55 people.

Smith said National Guard members went to help but residents had evacuated themselves after "they got the report of the dam breaking."

The Clausen Dam is on Spring Creek outside the town.

Kathryn is about 17 miles south of the town of Valley City, which is battling record high water on the Sheyenne River.

Spring Creek is a tributary of the Sheyenne River.

Slideshow (including Fargo thaw flooding) and article source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/...dwest_flooding