Tuesday Update

Today was a snow day in Fargo-Moorhead. We got about 6 inches of new snow last night, and I'm not sure how much today. Josh and I were both off of work, and I happen to be sick, so all I've been able to do is lay in bed all day. This blog is the most "work" I've done all day, and let me tell you, it makes my head hurt. Josh found out today that we are now allowed to unplug our lower level drains and should be able to use water as normal again. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon so we can get our life put back together.

Monday Update

Today I am back at work, but Josh's work is still closed. Yesterday we needed to get out of the house for a bit and took a trip to Target. On our way, we decided to check out how the neighborhood.

Here are some homes just a couple blocks down the street from us in a newer development. The river has risen up to street level.

This is just down our street... we didn't get real close but you can see a large temporary barrier they put up around the riverfront homes, so if the river were to raise up to their level and get past the sandbag dikes, it would not spill out into the rest of the neighborhood. We also live just a block down from the County, and they had made about a 3 ft tall earthen dike around their whole building. We went in to Fargo to check out the scene, and here is a view on the only open part of 2nd St. Just past this Nat'l Guard truck and barrier is a gigantic earthen dike built by the city to protect all of downtown Fargo.We went over the Main Ave bridge, the only one open save I94, and there was a huge crowd of people gathered around to see the view.

As you can probably tell, these are all pictures taken from the car. Here is a photo of a train going over the bridge next to the Main Ave bridge. The water almost touches the tracks. When it is dry, there is a road that goes below these bridges, so you can get some idea of how high this water really is.

The water is slowly going down. It is finally below 1997's record level. Unfortunately, a blizzard has begun and we are looking at another possible 10 inches of new snow tonight and tomorrow. This makes for very bad conditions in trying to monitor the dikes and get around town. Snowplowing is at a bare minimum, so streets are terrible. There is a good chance I'll be working from home tomorrow.

Saturday Update

We're still at home... all of our belongings are all crammed onto our first floor, and we're camped out in the living room until the threat of flooding is passed. Yesterday the river only rose about a foot, and this morning it is actually starting to go down. The newest forecast from NWS makes it look like it will continue to go down through this week. There is always a possibility for another crest, but we are hopeful that the river will keep going down. So, now we're still just waiting to see what happens.

New Flood Update

The Red River has gone above 1997 flood levels tonight. They are now expecting the river to crest between 41-43 feet on Saturday sometime and stay there for at least a few days. We found this out after we spent the afternoon sandbagging at MSUM. Then we promptly began clearing out our basement and gathering emergency items in case of evacuation. South Moorhead between the river and I94 has been evacuated. Concordia College is being evacuated, as they have turned off all water. Unfortunately, with the new crest predictions, many many more people are in danger of flooding. Our stress levels are extremely high as we think about the chance that our basement may be filled with water in the next few days. All we can do now is wait.

Thursday Flood Update

As of now, the river is at 38.1 ft... the third highest it's ever been in Fargo/Moorhead's recorded history. We're still dry so far. On the way to work this morning, the water was almost up to the road a couple blocks down from our house.
Last night Josh and I decided to do some more sandbagging, so we headed out to MSUM again to get our assignment. We were bussed down to south Moorhead to add another foot onto the sandbag levee behind some rivershore properties. The river was only a few feet from reaching the dikes behind the homes. It was much different working out in the snow and cold last night than working in 55 degree weather just the day before. The sandbags were beginning to freeze up by the time they reached our line, and it felt like passing frozen turkeys. We were out until about 10:30pm.
This morning it took about 25 minutes to get to work (normally it only takes about 7) because the roads were so congested with so many bridges closed. Today there's another push for lots of volunteers to keep sandbagging and raising the dikes to 43 feet. I think tonight we'll decide what needs to be moved upstairs and make a plan for evacuation so we're ready in case the worst happens. With the information we have, we are pretty sure that our home will be OK, but we want to be prepared just in case.

Update

It's been a crazy week up here. Most of you have probably heard about the flood situation in Fargo/Moorhead on the news lately, so I figured I'd give an update on what's going on.
When we started hearing that the river could top 1997 flood levels, we were able to find on Moorhead's website what the different flood stages would look like in our neighborhood. We shouldn't have to worry about the river actually reaching our house until it gets up to 42 feet.
The river was forecast last week to crest up to 40' in F/M around April 1st. As the waters started creeping up, sandbagging started all around the city. The city of Fargo has "Sandbag U" where they've got a couple of giant machines that disperse sand into multiple sandbags at one time. So they began on Friday asking for volunteers to check in at the Fargodome, and they were bussed to Sandbag U to fill sandbags. I heard they need about 60 people at a time to keep the machines running. From there, the bags are sent by the truck load out to different parts of town that need it the most.
On Saturday, Josh and I went out to do our part to sandbag. Since we're on the Moorhead side of the river, we checked in at MSUM and were bussed out to a property just south of Moorhead. Along with about 12 other people, we arrived to a giant pile of sand in the family's driveway. Their home was right on the river. The homeowner greeted us and thanked us all for coming out to help him. Then we got to work. Josh and I took turns shoveling sand and holding the sandbags open. The two of us filled about 200 in the couple hours that we were able to be there. They needed to build a dike all around the home. In the 1997 flood, the river filled up the home's basement almost all the way to the ceiling. The previous homeowners changed the landscape to help that, but still, many sandbags were needed.
On Sunday, we bought a back-up sump pump. Ours is working fine so far, but it will be crucial to have one ready to go in case it fails. We also shoveled the huge piles of snow away from our house.
Monday my work was let out at noon so we could all go sandbagging. I spent the afternoon sandbagging in south Moorhead. All of the colleges in the area let their students out to sandbag. There were many high school students out there as well. Monday night we went to Macs to get drain plugs for our basement. The truck load came at 6pm and the store was totally packed, with a line all the way to the back. We were able to get there early, so we got out of there in about half an hour. Monday night Josh plugged all of the drains to the basement, and we realized they told us the wrong size plug for the toilet.
Tuesday morning most high schools and colleges in the area were cancelled to let students sandbag once again. My work was cancelled as well. They are now predicting the river to crest as early as Friday, up to 41 feet. Now people are scrambling to build their sandbag dikes even higher. This time I just walked down the street to another sandbagging station in my neighborhood and worked there for the morning. (Side note: It's never reassuring to see the National Guard and the Red Cross working in your neighborhood.) Then I had to go back to Macs when the next truckload came in to try to get the right size plug. I finally got the plug. Josh went to install it, but, it still was not the right size. So, used his MacGyver-like skills to make it work. For our laundry room floor drain and our toilet drain, we have plugs in there that are held tight with 2x4s attached at the ceiling. These drains are there in case the sewers back up. The 2x4s will keep the drains from exploding sewage all over the place.
This morning the river was at 35 feet. We also have recieved at least 4 inches of snow since last night. Not a good combination. Most schools are cancelled today. The roads are horrible... full of snow and very slippery. Plows aren't coming around because everyone is too busy building dikes. My work opened at 10am. I think this morning's drive has been the worst of the whole winter. Yesterday it felt really nice outside at about 55 degrees. The snow was almost totally gone. Today it's freezing and there's at least another 4 inches. We're supposed to get up to 8 inches by this afternoon.

So... we are still dry so far. In order to stay dry, we need our sump pump to keep working, we need the sewers not to back up, and we need the river to stay under 42 feet.

I'll try to keep some updates going as the week progresses.

Fun at the Dog Park

This weekend we took the dogs to the Moorhead Dog Park. Asher loves going there, especially when he gets to play frisbee. It was freezing cold outside, as usual, but he got to run back and forth chasing his frisbee til our faces felt like they were going to freeze off.

Painting Back!

On Monday night we got a special delivery: our painting! It's been hanging in the Plains Art Museum since the beginning of fall, so we were happy when Mitch brought it back home for us. Now we can enjoy it once again. If you haven't seen it, invite yourself over some time. ;)