Sunday, March 29, 2009

River Watching: Who Says Grand Forks ND is Boring?

What's there to do on a Sunday afternoon when the temperature is warm (30 degrees)? Head to the parking garage, and take photos of the river!

That brown little phallic thing sticking out of the water is a marker showing the level of the river during the '97 500-year flood, 54'. We're at 48.7 feet and will likely go to 51 feet, plus new precipitation, if any.

Check out the left (North Dakota) side of this bridge!!!! See why the police won't let us drive over it? And in the foreground, you can see the unmelted snow piled up on one side of the dike, and the river on the other.

These bad folk are evading law enforcement and climbing the dike. Uh uh, not me! I'll take my photos from the parking garage and avoid the $800 fines! But I do have snow shoes that would probably work just fine. . . . Everyone's a little antsy. . . with permanent dikes, there's not a lot of sandbagging to do. . . so there's a restlessness. It cracks me up how many people (hundreds!) at once can be watching the web cam link on the river. . . and seeing nothing! Probably does beat a lot of tv plots, though.

Some reflections in the water, and the partially submerged (to the left) Burlington Northern train bridge.

13 comments:

Nicki said...

Your photos are both beautiful and terrifying. I love the reflections captured in them. My family (parents) lived through 2 major floods. The second was devastating and took out large chunks of the town. There was no rhyme or reason why the river went in what direction it went; so consequently there were some houses on one side of the road that were not touched, and others completely taken out. I do hope this ends soon for all of you and it does not go to the extremes that they anticipate.

pat said...

Oh man---I am glued to your posts; you are the New Reality Show in town. I showed R your photos--he worked for BNRR for years, and part of his territory was up your way. He knows exactly where that bridge is, and what it should look like.

Liz said...

That is some crazy high water! In Maine 20 ft. above flood level is considered disastrous, seems like you guys would laugh at us.
I hope you all stay safe.

Unknown said...

Lots of excitement in ND right now. Hope the water level goes down soon. TFS!

Sharon said...

Incredible!

Jason said...

WOW, WOW, WOW. That is so much water!

Amy said...

That is a LOT of water! I do hope the water subsides before that snow starts to melt and you get no more precipitation.

Anonymous said...

Those are very scary! I have only been involved in one major flood and it was awful. I hope you and your family remain safe!

Meaghan said...

Wow! I hope you guys stay safe.

Steph said...

Oh my goodness! I hope you stay safe (and warm).

Reds said...

Must be so scary to keep watching the water and hoping it won't come up anymore! Great shots!

Donnah Ciempka said...

That is amazing.

shirley said...

Still thinking about you and your city. I'm glad you captured your perspective of it all - very surreal!