An optimistic day of sandbagging was ruined by a new, record-setting crest prediction of 42 feet. Volunteers are at it again to try and raise the dikes on the southern end of town to 44 feet in 24 hours.
Thursday I started in Meadow Creek where they were busy trying to get the dikes to 43 feet (now 44). Before any sandbags could be dropped the original dikes had to be shoveled out from the snow that fell yesterday. Snowblowing then sandbagging… welcome to Fargo.
I went to Moorhead and picked up Britta Trygstad and we both went to Nemzek Hall at MSUM. There were scores of volunteers filing in, grabbing a bagged lunch and heading out to a bus for the front lines.
Next, River Drive in south Fargo again. The good news is they had almost all their dikes at 43 feet this morning, the bad news is the city was building a contingency dike down the middle of River Drive effectively sealing of the homes on the river if a dike gave way.
I was at Meadow Creek early and there weren’t many volunteers yet so we decided to return there just before noon. By now the police department had closed of 25th from 40th Avenue South to 52nd Avenue South so crews could add on to the Rose Creek Coullee. A 30 minute detour later and we made it back to Meadow Creek and now the sandbags were really flying.
In the afternoon Britta and I added Katie Lewis to our merry caravan with stops at the Fargodome and Fargo water treatment plant. An amazing number of people filled the dome keeping the forklifts and trucks moving at a hectic pace. At the water plant we met a great group of kids from Red Wing, Minn. that made a 600 mile roundtrip just to help out for the day.
Red River stage, 9:15pm: 39.75ft
Record: 40.1ft
Flood stage: 18ft
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- Dr. Steve Berndt shovels snow that fell overnight away the dike protecting the Meadow Creek neighborhood of Fargo, N.D. from rising flood waters as volunteers prepared to raise the dike another foot.
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- A playhouse sits on the wrong side of the dike protecting the Meadow Creek neighborhood of Fargo, N.D. from rising flood waters.
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- Garrett Maurer, a North Dakota State University Student from Benson, Minn., uses a baseball bat to loosen frozen sandbags before they are placed on the dike protecting the Meadow Creek neighborhood.
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- Rising flood waters threaten the Oak Creek neighborhood of Fargo.
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- Volunteers raise the dike protecting the Meadow Creek neighborhood of Fargo, N.D. from rising flood waters.
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- North Dakota State University student Andrew Budke catches a sandbag to place on the dike protecting the Meadow Creek neighborhood of Fargo.
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- Chips and other food is placed on a table at Nemzek Hall on the Minnesota State University Moorhead that sandbagging volunteers use to pack meals before boarding buses to go to areas of town to build dikes.
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- Volunteers sign in at Nemzek Hall on the Minnesota State University Moorhead before boarding buses to go to areas of town to build dikes.
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- Homeowner Todd Haggart clears the area in front of the dike next to his home as the Red River rises next to him in the River Drive area of Fargo.
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- Tammy Kapaun, left, tosses a sandbag to her husband, Jim Kapaun, as they and other volunteers add sandbags to a dike in the River Drive area of Fargo.
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- Volunteers add sandbags to a dike in the River Drive area of Fargo.
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- Volunteers add sandbags to a dike in the River Drive area of Fargo.
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- Beth and Jeff Svare of Audubon, Minn. take a break to eat a meal while helping raise a sandbag dike in the Meadow Creek neighborhood of Fargo.
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- Ron VanHeuveln, a volunteer from Sauk Rapids, Minn. pulls sandbags from palettes and passes down the line. VanHeuveln and a group of volunteers made the 175 mile trip to help out for several days.
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- Hundreds of volunteers fill sandbags at the Fargodome.
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- Sandbags fill the schoop of a front end load as hundreds of volunteers fill sandbags at the Fargodome.
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- Sandbags with inspirational messages written by volunteers sit on palettes at the Fargodome.
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- Shawn Christmann, left, and Sara Kran, both of West Fargo, N.D., stack sandbags on palettes at the Fargodome.
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- Jason Olson of Audubon, Minn. passes sandbags as volunteers rushed to finish a dike around the main fresh water pumping station in Fargo.
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- Brian Durgin slowly fills a Hesco Container with sand as volunteers rushed to finish a dike around the main fresh water pumping station in Fargo, N.D. Thursday, March 26, 2009.
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- Dan Lee, 17, left, and Alex Zeig, 16, pass sandbags down the line as volunteers rushed to finish a dike around the main fresh water pumping station in Fargo, N.D., Thursday, March 26, 2009. The teens were part of a group of 55 students from Red Wing, Minn. that traveled 280 miles to help build dikes for the day.
