The Red River North is Rising and Threatening

In 112 Years the Water in North Dakota has Never Been so High

Mar 27, 2009

As residents and volunteers have continued to work hard at first sandbagging and most recently at evacuations, the collective hope is that the make-shift dykes hold.

The hope is that the water stops rising, but that may not be realistic, at least until several weeks from now.. The problem here in Fargo/Moorhead area is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating the Red River had reached a new record at 40.68 feet, but is still rising. The Red River of the North which originates at the confluence of Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the U.S., flows northward through the Red River Valley and one of the most residential and commercially developed regions in this area, lying between the cities of Fargo, N.D., Morrhead, M.N., and the Greater Grand Forks metropolitan areas. The river which helps to form the boarder between the states of Minnesota and North Dakota flows into Manitoba, Canada and eventually empties into Lake Winnipeg; and was the sight of catastrophic flooding back in 1997 when the river crested at a then record 39 feet.

The Cold Weather Has Actually Been Helpful

The U.S. National Guard and Law Enforcement officials have been being very diligent about checking all of the work on make-shift levees and except in few instances they have been holding. But one of the best things that has happened to help slow the rising water has been the unseasonably cold weather in the region. Over the last few weeks unseasonably warm weather had been a major contributing factor to the potential for major flooding. When that potential became a reality towards the beginning of this week, a stretch of unseasonably cold weather including snow and then freezing temperatures have actually helped to slow the rising water.

The Red River North is Expected to Crest on Sunday

With the river expected to crest at between 41 - 43 feet, nearly 22 feet about the flood stage, the hope is that all of the volunteers and hours of hard work of filling hundreds of thousands of sandbags in sub-zero temperatures has not gone in vain. From a historical perspective the area is not in the same state of panic and devastation that that it was in during the flood of 1826, considered a once in a 550 years flood. At present the state, the mayor and other officials in Moorhead have recommended 10,000 evacuations according to the Minnesota Emergency Operations Center. Also a leaking levee in Fargo, the state's largest city, prompted 40 families to leave their homes the day before yesterday. The weather service in the area said that the water will probably reach 42 feet by Saturday and that everything that can be done is being done, however the longer sandbags hold back water, the less stable they become.

The copyright of the article The Red River North is Rising and Threatening in Tsunamis/Floods is owned by Paul Hamilton. Permission to republish The Red River North is Rising and Threatening in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.