How High's the water Momma?

[Ghosth]

River continues to drop, still sitting here high and dry.

Quick responce teams still standing by, and a fair amount of repair and maintenance going on along the dikes. 6 blocks away Fargo is the quietest I've ever seen it, its surreal its so quiet.

[Grayeagle]

Glad yer ok Ghost.

Been thru a flood when I was a kid growin up in Nebraska, family car was a total loss and everything smelled like mud for a long time.

Appreciate the updates and Masher's links .. looks cold up there!

-Frank aka GE

[Ghosth]

River level is 38.31 and falling!

8 inches of snow yesterday, big, thick, heavy flakes stacked up all afternoon yesterday.
Today more snow, and wind, not so bad here in town, but really rough out in the open.
With most city employees fighting the flood fight, snowplow trucks all had their snowplows removed for hauling sand etc.
That leaves  very limited resources to plow the streets and open things up. A few graders and some front end loaders is about it.

Mayor still asking people to stay home, businesses to stay closed until tomorrow at the earliest.
Fargo is still so quiet its surreal.

Had a nice phone call from a AH pilot who's in the Coast Guard, who got deployed here Sunday to help with rescue.
We've been swapping PM's on the AH message boards. He was very concerned that they were not being given the correct information on flood levels, weather, etc. After 2 days here he's so in love with this country he would like to find someplace close that he could get transferred to.  We had a long talk about simple honest conservative North Dakota Values.  People who look after their neighbors before themselves, etc.  We really are blessed to live up here. Life may not always be easy, but we are in very very good company.

Fargo leaders continue to show poise, grace and professionalism under fire.
Yesterdays news conference included representatives from the Coast Guard, to report on their activities, US customs and border security, which has been helping the Coasties with security and intell. Letting them know exact water states, weather, etc. So the Coast Guard can immediately send the correct type of rescue craft without having to waste time looking at the situation themselves. Also we got to hear from the people doing the Preditor overflights, and some of what those can help us with. Boy, it was dead clear that a little bit of work in a few places could seriously help flow in several locations. Help prevent ice jams, etc, I could see the wheels turning in Mayer W's head as he's watching this presentation.  I expect to see some real results for the future as a result of this technology.

River continues to drop, but the big snow is slowing that somewhat.  Looks like they are saying 10" - 18" total, 6 " yesterday.

On the down side NOAH is predicting a second crest of 40 - 41 feet in mid April when all this snow melts and dumps into the river system.    Sorry but It is really hard to think of having to do this all over again in 2 weeks.

Meantime we remain high, and dry and safe.
A bit humbled by the outpouring of thoughts, prayers and well wishes.
Thanks all!

[james]

Just came off the river with the airboat. Got the radio station working and some power to a few outrelying homes that were cut off. We drove through the flooded woods and cleared the powerlines with extended chainsaws. The radio station in the area is being used to broadcast water heights, road closures, and other weather info. This made it worth getting into some tight squeezes. There was a home surrounded by sandbags with no power but a lot of electric pool pumps over the bags. The guy was using a bucket to bail his garage. The look on his face was priceless when all those pumps kicked on. Yesterday we were ferrying some people from their houses to dry land. Anyone that wants to evacuate we pick up. River depth went down but the predicted crest is what we are watching for right now. I'm hoping it stays cold and gives the river more time to drop. Went to a launch site we used yesterday and it was completely dry today. No water. Had to drive a bit further in to get the boat into the water but noone in our crew was the slightest upset. We were finally able to smile a little I think.
<S>ghost ill be here til they say we move to another spot or they send me home.

[Ghosth]

If your here long enough we'll be using that airboat to go fishing in! 

And James is right on about the radio stations up this way.
Several of them have been fighting the good fight, and doing a very fine job of it.

[james]

When this is over ill send or post some pictures. Won't be anything spectacular because when something happens the last thing I'm thinking about is a camera.

The boat was running awsome today I was proud of her. There's a difference between running in deep slow moving water and shallow fast moving water due to the cushion effect of the hull. The rudders behind the fan barely needed to move for a turn and the engine torque wasn't trying to flip us over as it usually tries to.
Haven't seen the boat behave so well in a long time. Since there's a lull as far as anyone needing help we are doing what we can to help restore power with transporting power company people, levee survey people. The list goes on. Anything to keep us close by to the river and be of some help.
Love this town, no joke about it.

[Ghosth]

37.3 and still falling!
Weather says 5 day forecast is ideal for continued slow melting of the snow pack. Meantime every day without a major thaw is buying us time and capacity. Looking at lots of snow in my yard may be Natures ultimate April Fools joke.

Meantime people and life start on the path to getting back to other things.

City of Fargo Prepares to Get Back to Some Degree of Normality
As the city of Fargo prepares to get back to some degree of normal, that includes opening up neighborhoods that have either been evacuated or cut off by levees.  People have been calling KFGO to find out when that will start -- city administrator Pat Zavoral telling KFGO news -- some areas that have levees built to 38 feet or more will begin to be re-opened tomorrow (wed) afternoon.  Residents of the Belmont park area should be allowed back in Thursday afternoon.

Mayor Dennis W is pretty confident as the river slips below the 38 mark that we should have no trouble coping with a second crest when it comes. If the weather had warmed up a lot, that could have been very ugly. But this cold weather is giving all of us breathing space. Time for the river to roll on bye, time for water levels to go down, time for feeder rivers to crest and drop. So while waking up to 2 feet of snow in my yard may be an April Fools Joke by mother nature, I think the jokes on her. By the time it does warm up enough to melt the river will be low enough that it really isn't going to threaten us.

So for all those folks out there praying for us, I am glad to be able to say that its working.
This weekend you can figure that we are safely out of harms way.

Sounds like most of the special needs and elderly people who were evacuated out last Thurs & Friday will be coming back home tomorrow.

With that I'll be standing down from flood watch. For all those who have sent prayers, passed on hopes, and who have responded to this thread. From me and my family a very heartfelt thank you. You have helped keep us sane, and on track at a time when it would have been all too easy to think that we were isolated and alone, that no one cared.

You all are proof to the contrary, have every right to feel good about yourself, to feel proud.

Thank you!

Bill & Cindy Jamison
Fargo North Dakota

[morfiend]

 

[derelict]

Man do I miss the CG     Was amazing to see the efforts of all those folks pulling together up there.  Nice that it worked out for the best.