Comments

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 3/27/2009, 1:23 PM
Hey Jeremy,

Indeed I am in Fargo. I've moved my equipment up from the basement just in case ( a card table is not a desk but I managed to get my dual 24's on it... sorta :) ).

I think that we will be ok here, but it's hard to say, because the ground is still frozen, and we've been getting some snow, and now they're talking that it might rain ( which would obviously be bad ). There have already been some losses (friends of mine south of town are in tough shape as they lost their home earlier this week along with several other outlying communities around Fargo, but I believe they got the important stuff up to the attic before they were evac'd.

We've cranked out millions of sandbags, but the real question is whether those sandbag levies hold for the entirety of the crest (forecasted to be 3-7days). Especially since it's so cold, the bags can freeze and then they don't form in to fit properly so they don't really stop the water well over long periods. We're in one of the flood planes from FEMA so it's certainly possible that if the levies go we could see some water, but we're not in a place where anything above our basement would be lost I don't think.

If you're the praying kind, we'd sure appreciate you asking God to hold up and hold together those levies till the water passes.

Many thanks.

Dave
CorTed wrote on 3/27/2009, 1:38 PM
Yeah, Dave. It is incredible to see this much water.
I hope all continues to be well with you and yours.

Ted
blink3times wrote on 3/27/2009, 3:44 PM
Yeah.... it's on its way to us now (winnipeg). Not too worried about the City... we have a Floodway (huge man made ditch to channel the water around the city), but it's the prperties outside the city limits that are going to go under again... I feel for them. We're aloud to take time off work with pay to help sandbag all next week... there will be a lot of us out there.

Good luck Dave.
i c e wrote on 3/27/2009, 4:08 PM
Dave I cannot believe what I have been seeing on the news. The situation is unsurmountable.

I will pray that you and your family will be safe in it all.


Best wishes,

Josh
farss wrote on 3/27/2009, 4:15 PM
My thoughts go out to you guys. Floods are one thing, freezing cold water is another matter entirely. Add the blocks of ice into the mix and this is not something to be messed with no matter what.

Bob.
autopilot wrote on 3/27/2009, 4:29 PM
"We have a 500-year flood that we're combatting, and we think we're doing as well as we can," Mahoney said.

My parents live near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and I believe it went to the 500-year mark there last summer (?). Four hundred city blocks were under water.
blink3times wrote on 3/27/2009, 4:44 PM
What I can't figure out is why Fargo hasn't built better flood protection.

I remember the flood of 1997 when Grand Forks went under. They came here to Winnipeg after the flood to look at our protection system (the Red River cuts right through the center of our City as well). They went back and upgraded so Grand Forks is now sitting pretty.... but Fargo never did much of anything. We even spent the last 5 years upgrading our system because although the flood of 97 was contained... it did tax the system pretty good.

The message is clear... if you live on the Prairies then flood protection is pretty high on the list of priorities.
winrockpost wrote on 3/27/2009, 5:08 PM
good luck to you Dave and all your family and friends and everyone in the danger zone ,
Dave
farss wrote on 3/27/2009, 5:19 PM
How the heck do you protect against this kind of thing?

Moving water with great slabs of ice in it would need something pretty solid to contain it. Down here where we don't have the iceberg problem you can build your house up on stilts and you're pretty safe.
I can imagine that not working so well with icebergs taking out a pylon and having you house topple into the freezing water.
I'm no expert but I'd figure anyone landing in such cold water doesn't have long to live without extreme thermal protection.

I'm looking at those guys filling sandbags in freezing weather and wondering how long they're going to last. I'd think the ice is going to cut through them very quickly, some of those slabs of ice must weigh a ton at least. That sort of mass doesn't have to be moving fast to do a lot of damage. Once the levees start to go I'd imagine they fail very quickly too and trying to repair the breech with freezing cold water washing over you would be no simple task and one that could not end well.

Bob.
blink3times wrote on 3/27/2009, 5:59 PM
"How the heck do you protect against this kind of thing?"

Well it sure as heck isn't cheap I'll tell you that much. Our taxes increased a fair amount in the last flood system upgrade.

We've built a massive permanent dike South of the City (North of Fargo) that stretches for miles on either side of the City so the water sort of collects and forms a huge lake. Meanwhile we have placed a gate at the mouth of the Red River just before it enters the City and we control the level of the Red through the City. The water behind the gate rises and when it gets to a certain height it starts spilling into what we call the Flood Way, which is a MASSIVE man made ditch that goes AROUND the City.

We in essence pool it, control the level of the REAL Red River through the City, While diverting the vast majority around the city. It was a VERY expensive project but has paid for itself many times over now.

Ice however is still a problem. They don't like to close the gates on the Red until most of the ice is gone (they don't want to divert ice through the flood way in case of an ice jam) so we hold off on closing the red gates until most of the ice has broken up so some of the lower areas may get a bit wet should the ice be late in breaking. But we also have a few large ice breaking machines specifically designed for breaking ice on the river should the ice need a little help. They're funny looking machines.... kind of like huge oval rafts with hydraulic claws, rams, hydraulic buckets... and other such neat little things. They claw their way up onto the ice and basically punch it and jump on it until it gives. I've often wondered how the operator feels after a day of being in that thing!
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 3/27/2009, 6:58 PM
we just got back from helping a friend in a voluntary evac area get out, and we drove by the river to see where it's at. I'm just utterly blown away at how high that water is, I can hardly believe it.

fortunately any more precip we get right now is likely to be snow and stay frozen for a while. If we get rain, then all the snow and the rain all turns into liquid precip, and we don't need that, that's for sure.

Dave
apit34356 wrote on 3/27/2009, 7:35 PM
Dave, hope everything works out! Maybe a massive man-made lake could "hold" the water while the city sells the water to L.A. ;-) Should be able to tunnel thru the Rockies for a fraction of the cost of the "Boston Dig". HOLLYWOOD could buy the "ice water" for $50 a bottle......... ;-)