The Red River in Fargo has crested and is declining, but the real focus the past few days and into this week are along the Sheyenne river.  The cities of Valley City, Lisbon and many other small areas surrounding the Sheyenne are under high alert this week and expect to see record crests.  My thoughts go out to the people in our community that are suffering because of our water.

Whether it is the Red River or the Sheyenne… we are all connected and we will all suffer if any of our communities go under.  For those of us in the Fargo area, please remember that the Sheyenne definitely could impact our area, even if W. Fargo has a diversion.  Here are some of the news reports I have been seeing/hearing:

1. 1.        The levees are being built from 22.5 feet to 24 feet.  This is a last minute change to accommodate these large water releases from the Bald Hill Damn and other water melting.
2. 2.       The water is expected to be at critical levels for several days along the Sheyenne.
3. 3.       400,000 Sandbags have/are been/being delivered to Valley City.
4. 4.       Residents are urged to conserve water
5. 5.       Valley City is not calling for outside residents for sandbagging at this time, but there could be other communities that would like help.
6. 6.       You can find Valley City Flood information at http://valleycity.govoffice.com/

Stay safe!

The Grand Forks Herald reports that “Fargo wraps up fight.”  This is bull.  I am optimistic about this year’s flood, but there is plenty going on in flood preparation.  I stopped by the Oak Grove neighborhood and there is all sorts of stuff going on just in that one area alone.  There are sandbags that still need to be tossed and areas that need to be buttoned up.  The fight is NOT wrapped up until the water goes down.  This is the kind of complacency that people are talking about and the Grand Forks Herald should know better.

In addition, the article talks about Fargo and Moorhead, but fails to mention the numerous communities throughout Eastern North Dakota.  Fargo and Moorhead might be getting close to feeling better about this crest, but there are plenty of other outlying communities and farmsteads that will need help throughout the region.  This is not buttoned up.

Well, we are on our way to the 2011 Red River crest.  The snow was rapidly melting and a trip down to the dike will show a rapidly rising Red River.  Rob Kupec via Twitter indicated that the Red River is expected to top 30 feet by Wednesday and 37 by next Sunday.  Although we still have no predicted crest date, 37 feet is getting awfully close to where the top will (hopefully) be.  I would hope that officials and experts will be able to narrow in on a crest date within the week.
For those of us in the southern valley, we are very fortunate that a whole bunch of precipitation missed us.  Those to the north did receive some rain/snow, but less snow in the south also means less moisture in the Red for those folks up north.  I had been expecting 5-6 inches of snow, but I have not seen any snow or rain for today.  It looks like we may have some snow or rain in the Fargo area this evening, but it will be welcome in comparison to the 6 inches of snow I was previously dreading.

It looks like we could have additional rain over the next 10 days, but hopefully they will turn out to be duds.  Sandbags are going out this week and I am sure a flurry of activity will be starting!  Stay safe!

• Potential winter storm this weekend – Valley News reports that we may see a new winter storm this weekend that could dump another 5 to 6 inches of snow in the area.  This is really terrible news in regards to this year’s floods.  This could bring this winter up to the second snowiest winter and that is the last thing we need.
• Both Fargo and Moorhead are delaying the delivery of sandbags – KFGO writes that Fargo is delaying delivery indefinitely.  This also does not help, but is necessary because of the pending weather.   Frozen sandbags are not good sandbags.
• The river is at 19.03 feet at the time of writing – www.isfargoflooding.com reports that the current level is at 19.03 and rising.  The North Broadway bridge will be closing at some point in the relatively near future.
• The evacuation plan is top secret – This.  I don’t know…. I might just pick a level and decide to pack up my family and get the heck out of dodge.  If I don’t know what the plan is, I might want to make my own plan.  I am no longer right next to the river, but if it gets bad enough…. Could we all be evacuated?
• More bickering about where the diversion goes – not sure I want to go there.  While we are bickering, our entire region might end up ruined.

I have recently been seeing many people being encouraged to vote for Fargo as the “Toughest Weather City.”  Granted, us Fargoans go through some shi….. stuff, but I, for one, am not the most fond of us winning this accolade.  If we want our city to grow, this is not the kind of advertising that I want portrayed to the rest of the world.  “Move to Fargo… we have the crappiest weather in the US” is not a slogan I want for my home town.

Everybody knows it gets very cold here.  The nation is under the impression that we have been flooding every year since the beginning of time.  I am used to outside people saying “I loved that movie” when I mention my home town.  Our mosquitoes are bigger than horses.  I get it; some might think our weather sucks (and sometimes I agree), but I am not voting for Fargo as the toughest weather city.  “Most exciting weather city”, possibly that is something I could get behind.  It sounds better and puts a better spin on -30 days.

Instead of voting for Fargo as having terrible weather, I would prefer to talk about how we are going to save our communities from the flood.  Maybe we could talk about how nice it is to have a change of seasons.  Not many other regions in the US offer ice fishing as a local sporting opportunity.  There are plenty other subjects to focus on other than telling the world how terrible our weather is.

I understand that it is all fun and games, but I don’t want us to win this thing… we have sandbagging to do!

We are at flood stage!  We have a long way to go, but we are here.

While we prepare for another year of battling this flood, another battle has been going on the past few years.  I believe the battle for permanent flood protection is going to determine the fate of the entire southern Red River Valley.  To a lesser extent, it will help determine the future of the entire state of North Dakota.  I think our situation could be dire and it has the potential to drastically change all of our lives.

Obviously, if a devastating flood were to get past our defenses in Fargo, it would be devastating for the FM area and surrounding communities.  Grand Forks and surrounding areas were impacted dramatically and I would expect a similar impact (and probably worse) for the Fargo area.   This result has the potential to devastate myself and many people in the area.  This is our primary concern and we continually pull together as a community to protect our own.

Even if we are able to escape the clutches of Red River flooding, we don’t need the flood to impact life in Fargo, just the threat of flooding.  Fargo continues to win awards for being a great place to live, but how long will that last with our floods?  When a business is deciding to move to Fargo, why would they choose us?  Yes, we have some really great things going for us, but if I were to tell a business that they basically need to shut down for 2 weeks out of the year because of a local weather event, why would they move to Fargo?  Even if they did not have to shut down, they certainly would be impacted.  Employees need to leave and neighbors need to help out.  As much as I love the Fargo area, if I were on the outside looking at this community, it would be a serious consideration when looking at Fargo as place to move my business.

Not only might they need to shut down, they might also be risking equipment, which could impact a business’ decision to move to Fargo.  Why would I place millions of dollars of equipment in the path of dangerous flooding?  Possibly a flood would not ruin equipment, but it may take it out of commission for months.  These are just things, but major companies are worried about bottom lines and annual flooding can impact bottom line.

Perhaps this has already cost us 100s of potential jobs.  How many major companies have looked at the Fargo-Moorhead as a potential place to do business, but written us off specifically because of flooding?  How many millions have been invested in other communities because they don’t have a flood event that happens every year.

There are many great places in the state of North Dakota and if we lose jobs to Williston, Bismarck, or any of our great cities… that is not so bad, but we need to be attractive to businesses also.  Western North Dakota is getting a huge bump in business because of our fortune in oil and we need to have our unique role in the state also.  In my humble opinion, we need to get our asses in gear and stop bickering amongst ourselves.  Our leaders need to make the tough decisions and lay it out for us and tell it like it is.  No matter what, some people are going to be hurt by permanent flood protection and we just need to minimize those pain points and make tough calls.  People are going to lose property and homes…. Stop pussyfooting around and get it done.

Fargo and the Red River Valley is an absolutely awesome place to live and work.  I want that to continue.