Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Fargo's rising flood waters puts Manitoba Military on alert
Share:
by Amy Judd | March 27, 2009 at 09:17 am
1187 views | 45 Recommendations | 4 comments
Fargo's rising Red River broke a record today by rising to a level not seen in 112 years, and the Canadian Military in Manitoba has been put on alert to help prevent the flooding in that region. The Mayor of Fargo North Dakota has called for more people to be evacuated as the river broke one of the major dikes and rose to almost 41 feet, which is 22 feet more than it should be, and the National Weather Service is saying that the river could be as high as 43 feet by tomorrow.
The main dike in Fargo only protects up to 43 feet.
The Mayor, Dennis Walaker however, says that he believes it won't go that high and they are not going to build the dike any higher.
"We're not going to proceed to take it to 44. Is that a gamble? We don't think so," Walaker said.
The National Guard is in Fargo helping to patrol the dikes, and 800 more troops have been added to the 900 already there.
People are being asked to stay off roads and in their homes unless they have been evacuated. More than 400 have been evacuated so far, including 100 inmates.
The Red Cross are on their way to operate emergency shelters; there are 85 volunteers there already.
Residents say that this is a sign that authorities are expecting a disaster.
In Manitoba, the Canadian military is on standby as they get ready to begin their own battle against the Red River rising in their area, and 850 people are getting ready to evacuate if necessary.
"We're exploring what assistance can be acquired, if needed, through our joint emergency preparedness program," federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said Thursday in Ottawa.
"And there's, of course, our disaster assistance program, [an] after-the-fact way of assisting with funding, should events arise."
It all depends on what happens south of the Border and how they are able to stave off the flooding down there at this point.
Photos
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Crowd Power
Red Cross Social Media
Washington, District Of Columbia, United Statespicturethepromises
Abercrombie, North Dakota, United StatesdjFargo
Fargo, North Dakota, United Statescarl_lexicon
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
USArmy
Arlington, Virginia, United StatesUSACEpublicAffairs
United Statesrenaealane32
United StatesSiliconC
United Statestheskyhawker
United Statesnathanbergeson
United States
Related Stories
Recommendations (45)
albertacowpoke
Canada
Blue Crush
Toronto, Canada
Fred Miller
Friendswood, Texas, United States
Roy C
Vancouver, Washington, United States
AlvarezGalloso
Miami, Florida, United States
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Paschen
Narita, Chiba, Japan
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 13:28 on March 27th, 2009
thank so much for the updates Esta, much appreciated.
at 15:11 on March 27th, 2009
Good work Esta. The North Dakota National Guard is doing one hell of a job. The human spirit is also well and alive with the Northerners. I suspect the 2nd Battlion Princess Patricia.s Light Infantry, assisted by Reserves from the Winnipeg Rifles and Cameron Highlanders will do a swell job in Manitoba as well. I have family in Winnipeg and they are confident that they have this under control.
at 17:00 on March 27th, 2009
Thank you for the post Amy.
As well as the updates Esta.
at 18:34 on March 27th, 2009
My solidarity with North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Thanks for the story.
at 02:13 on March 28th, 2009
The river crested at 39.57 feet according to CNN
at 16:34 on March 29th, 2009
A permanent dike at Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo has been breached, allowing water from the flooding Red River to pour into two of the school's buildings and force an evacuation of a support group monitoring the school's flood situation.
Bruce Messelt, president of Oak Grove, said water began pouring into the lower level of Benson Hall and eventually reached the Scheels Center for the Performing Arts.
He said the full extent of the flooding was not known as of early Sunday, but he said up to four of the five buildings on campus were at risk for water damage.
"Obviously, we're devestated by the impact this will have on our school," said Messelt.
Joel Swanson, a teacher at the school, said he was a member of a dike-watch team at the school about 1:15 a.m. when someone spotted water leaking from beneath a panel of the school's permanent floodwall.
He said despite efforts to seal the leak with sandbags the river quickly ate away the soil beneath the wall and water began pouring into the lower level of Benson Hall.
Swanson said volunteers attempted to stem the tide by sandbagging the stairwell, but the water quickly swamped that barrier as well.
"Basically, we tried to sandbag the stairwells to make sure we could keep the water in, but water is an amazing thing," said Swanson, who teaches earth science.
The City of Fargo has issued a press release saying that a Code Red has been sent out advising residents between the Oak Grove campus and Elm Street to plug their sewer drains and monitor their basements. The city is not ordering an evacuation.
Source: inforum.com