The Red River

It finally crested in Fargo/Moorhead. Grand Forks will be sometime in the next couple of days.

12 years ago, a senior in High School (yeah Bill you are old), my hometown was dealing with the 1997 Red River flood in Grand Forks, ND. Today, Fargo/Moorhead—72 miles south of Grand Forks, is dealing with the Red River flooding again.

The Red River is one of the few rivers that flows North into Canada. Residents along the river have experienced colder than normal temperatures and twice as much snow then the Minneapolis area. This all combined with the ground still frozen and the ice chunks blocking the river’s current has caused Fargo to flood.

Why Fargo and not Grand Forks?

After the flood of ’97 the city of Grand Forks increased the size of the dikes several inches above the crest of the ‘97 flood and removed most of the home and small business within a half mile of the river—but today the city is not in the clear. The crest of the river is not predicted to happen until next week. Two of the three bridges have been closed. Fargo did not have the extent of damage Grand Forks received thus not increasing their dikes like Grand Forks.

I can just image what the residents of Fargo is going though. The flood of ’97 felt like we were in the middle of a war zone without the bombs. National Guards and trucks everywhere, sirens going off in different parts of town indicating that another part of the levy broke and that everyone in the area must try to get to safety as soon as possible. Those who still had a home were taking in everyone they could while they themselves were on the line trying to fight back the ever rising water of the river. After 48 hours of pure exhaustion—the entire town was told to evacuate.

Fargo is a larger town and has developed further West since I last called the town home seven years ago. In any case, I hope everyone is save.