red river 2009 flood watch ND/MB
 

ummm... not good

http://images.publicradio.org/conten...loodgage_3.jpg

‘It is time to be concerned’: Forecasters predict one of three-highest recorded Red River floods in Fargo
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/233952/
Flood crest predictions for Fargo jumped three feet in a week, with the National Weather Service predicting a 50 percent chance the Red River will hit 38 feet by mid-April.
By: Helmut Schmidt, INFORUM


Flood crest predictions for Fargo jumped three feet in a week, with the National Weather Service predicting a 50 percent chance the Red River will hit 38 feet by mid-April.

If that happens, it would become the third-highest flood on record, said Tim Bertschi, a flood engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It’s a pretty serious outlook,” Bertschi said.

Fargo and Cass County emergency management officials met Friday to discuss the new flood estimate and go over the status of flood preparations from sandbags, pumps and dikes, to tetanus shots and emergency command centers.

“This is not the March Madness I anticipated,” Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said.

“What we’ve seen today here, it’s changed dramatically,” Walaker said of the flood outlook. “Is it time to be concerned, I think it is. … We’ve got issues.”

Major flood stage in Fargo starts at 30 feet. The highest recorded flood in Fargo was 39.5 feet in 1997, officials said.

The current outlook calls for a 10 percent chance of a flood of 40 feet or more, which City Engineer Mark Bittner said would be a challenge to fight.

“God must feel that we need a refresher course every 10 years or so. And we had one in 2006, and 2009 seems a little soon. But it is reminiscent of ’97,” Walaker said.

Bertschi said Red River Valley cities are more in danger of flooding thanks to the recent major snowfall.

“We can’t take another blizzard or much rainfall on the melt. They’re all right on the edge” of needing assistance, he said.

“I was surprised. I was a little bit shocked. When we talk of flood prediction levels of 38, 39 feet, that’s as high as we’ve been,” said Morgan Forness, principal and dean of students at Oak Grove Lutheran School.

The Fargo school was badly damaged when sandbag dikes gave way in the Oak Grove area and let the river swamp the school and many homes.

Walaker and Bittner are concerned about overland flooding in south and southwest Fargo, as waters from the Sheyenne and Wild Rice rivers are likely to break their banks and advance toward Fargo and the Red River.

“It appears the flows are coming out of the Sheyenne and Wild Rice much higher than they were in ’97,” Bittner said. “The breakout flows are the largest concern right now.”

“We’re going to have to put an awful lot of people to work. We’re going to have to spend a tremendous amount of money to protect our city and our people. If there’s any good in this, and it’s hard to see something good about another flood, is that it’s going to re-emphasize our need for flood protection. … We need permanent protection and we need to have that as soon as we possibly can,” Walaker said, a not-so-subtle call for support for the city’s $161 million Southside Flood Control Project.

Leon Schlafmann, Fargo’s emergency services coordinator, said the best scenario for the spring melt would be “38 degrees (during the day), cold at night from here on out and no more precipitation.”

Overall, Bittner is confident this flood fight can be won, thanks to changes made since 1997.

“Thirty-eight, 39 feet. We’ve done it in the past, so we can do it again,” Bittner said.

At 1 p.m. today, Sen. Byron Dorgan will hold a meeting at Fargo’s City Hall to discuss flood fighting issues in the Valley.

Another city/county flood preparation meeting will be held 8 a.m. Friday at Fargo City Hall.

For more flood information, go online to: www.cityoffargo.com/Flood09.

Let's hope it doesn't get too serious, and hope that it doesn't snow or rain in the next couple of weeks, at the very least.

Expect the worst, hope the best, people!

I'm tying my docks up tomorrow night. This year I bought a 2 inch gas powered pump to blast the silt away after the river receedes. It's gonna be a big one, let's hope the melt is fairly slow.

just for the bullshit they tried pulling on us with the Devils Lake ..., we should block the flood water from comming in as much, we'll show them those ungratefull sobs.

I am sorry but if justice system is not pulling its weight its time we screw them over like they did to us. We can't let them walk all over us.

no don't be playing thoughs games... i got friends in nd....

are you sure they are your friends the way they acted so ignorant against us.

We shall stand for what we believe in and bend over and take it like a nice fellow canadian.

they failed time and time to follow there commitement with the filters and from alowing devils lake waters from entering the red river. And you wonder I am growing tired of there bs.

seariously though devilz lake would of overflowed into the river watershead anyways the fight has to happen to get atleast some sorta filter in vs just overflowing

The only reason Devils Lake is overflowing in the first place is because of poor environmental practices in North Dakota!

devilz lake has overflowed into our watershed in the past though naturaly...

lheres the feb 19 report supost to be an update out today but its not posted on the water stewerdships site yet
http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardshi...%2019_2009.pdf

some interesting numbers here o and get aload of calgary
http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardshi...1_Feb%2015.pdf

http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardshi...18_2009rev.pdf

So 1997 was supposed to be a 'one in 100 year flood' was it? Looks like it might come close to happening again, just 12 years later.

The people behind the floodway expansion must be patting themselves on the back right about now.

Yes, despite the flack that this floodway expansion has been getting in the past 5-6 years.

By the time they finish this huge project, this floodway will make the '97 flood look like a day at the water fountain at the park. :rolleyes:

I don't think the floodway expansion was such a terrible idea, it was just built at the wrong time.

With a worldwide recession in play, now is the time we should be hiring people to dig a big hole in the mud.

how about starting some highway projects along with some power line projects along the east side of lake Winnipeg, I'm sure that would create some jobs and also provide a vital link to the first nations communities which would help to lower living costs and improve living conditions on the reserve on that side of the lake.

Another make work project could include a new mass transit system in the city of winnipeg. not only would this create jobs for labourers but I'm sure there are some engineering firms that could use some work to tide them over during slower economic times. Now I understand that the various engineering disciplines require experts in each of the fields but I'm quite certain we have some amazing architects and engineers that could design some award winning LRT stations that meet the cold weather needs of our city and tie in safety, security, environmental, and unique charater elements that could unite the city, and spur future economic development.

heres the update
http://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardshi...2009_Press.pdf

i think they just did a bunch of blasting on the river

anyhow the province also picked up a 2nd avabex..

So our spiffy new expansion and upgrading of the Floodway should prove that it works. But this really won't be a flood like 1997.... In that year we had 30 centimetres of snow .... Every week.

I'm not worrying too much.

wow i just went through my flood archive dam we had allot of snow that year :|

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3170/flood97.jpg

latest forcasts don't look good were in for bunch more water all through the vally

All it would take is one good storm. They're starting to worry down in Fargo that their beefed up flood protection isn't beefed up nearly enough.