Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Rising Temperatures; Rising Waters

That was fast! Just since Sunday, the river has risen 22 feet. I thought I'd take a drive over the Sorlie Bridge today, from Grand Forks, into East Grand Forks, before 2 of the 3 bridges close tomorrow.

Fortunately, the situation seems much more contained than last year, or previous years. Last year tested Grand Forks dikes. . . . and they offered us good protection. We're expecting to be safe this year. All those years of property tax assessments to pay for these walls is definitely paying off!

Fargo, ND, also seems less concerned this year than last year, although their situation could change, negatively, very abruptly.

Grand Forks now has what's considered "permanent" dike protection, and we now only have to put up small flood walls across bridge areas when the water rises.

Fargo never experienced what Grand Forks did in 1997, and so is still in the situation of using more temporary flood protection measures. . . . sandbag dikes, and some of the newer Corps of Engineer flood walls.

This is the same river that I was walking around on a few weeks ago, waiting for the sled dogs to arrive, and practicing with snow shoes. Hard to imagine taking steps out on this now!

We got up to 43 degrees today! Unfortunately, the temps may drop back down to 13 degrees in the coming week--this is good for flooding, but horrendous for our longing for warm weather!

11 comments:

Sharon said...

Those dykes may not be the prettiest of things, but they work. All that water is powerful & scary!

pat said...

All this warm weather is really doing a number on the Red. Here's hoping for a more gradual thaw, and NO RAIN!!! Glad you have the dike system, and don't feel like you will need to sandbag like Fargo. Sending you dry wishes!!! I know how scary those rapidly rising rivers can be.

annabelle said...

man thats some high water, I hope your winter and the melted down is over soon so you can enjoy spring with us :)

Lauren Hartman said...

Wow. Definitely seeing signs of spring, aren't you? Hopefully you are all done with snow for this year! Loved your post from yesterday, totally made me smile :D

Maria said...

Gosh, you guys really have it bad with the weather. When it isn't snow, it's the unbelievably cold temperature, or in the Spring, the floods . . . I can totally appreciate how anxious you are for warm weather!

Jeanne said...

Oh boy, what a difference a few days and degrees can make. The pictures are great. I sure hope you don't have to deal with flooding and soon can just enjoy the fruits of spring in the green grass and pretty flowers.

Loved your post where you were watching for the snow to melt. Too funny!

Reds said...

23 feet - wow - that's a lot of water!!

Margaret said...

Amazing shots. It's incredible to think that you were out walking on that river not that long ago! Stay dry!

Barb said...

Those are great pictures. I hope the water melts and the dykes keep you safe.

Nicki said...

While killing some time as my daughter attended a media event at Marshall University, I went down to the flood walls and took some pictures. I couldn't help but think of you and your neighbors. Our water has been up - but fortunately not as high as some past winters - and not as high as your neck of the woods.

Heather said...

Oh, I'm glad to see that you're okay, Angela! The headlines made me rush over to check on ya.