Let's make more snow angels....he he he...

I still can't figure out how to flip a video....so....turn your head to the left and enjoy this one...

2009 Fargo/Moorhead Flood

This is an awesome video found on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdxtwROYTgE

And a comment from someone on YouTube about our area that I think sums us up pretty good...

If the earth needs to be protected from approaching asteroids, these will be the people who will step up to build the shield to save the planet. Don't make them angry.

Quick breath...and hold...

Well, we're still here, we're still dry, we're still holding our breath. The neighbors are back, the river is dropping (for now), a couple of nights of straight rest (a little longer, but not much), and I think a little hint of order is well overdue. I'm still going to conserve on the water, but things just need to get done. I actually washed a load of dishes last night and everyone has had a bath/shower within the last 12 hours - long overdue. Laundry is next on the list. I'll have to do one load at a time, instead of my 4-5 in a day, and see how the drains handle it. I don't want to overload our system since the city's system is overwhelmed. It's kind of like eating after being sick. One little bite a time until it all seems to stay down, then a little more, then wait. Kind of a weird analogy, I know, but you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, I have loaded a bunch onto my facebook page. It is easier to do the mass download there for now. Most of my comentary is on this blog, since it is easier to do that here.

There have been a few more breeches in the dikes on both the Moorhead and the Fargo sides of the river, but the contingency dikes put in place are still holding. It's sad to see the loss of one battle, but the war is not over. We are all staying to fight the Red until one of us wins - and may I dare say we're not going to budge.

Moorhead 2009 Flood Pics

"How high's the water mama?" It's 40.8 feet high and risin'...

Well, another day safe at home. The drains have quieted down. The kids are sleeping. The bags are ready just in case. And I'm exhausted, yet can't seem to settle my mind down enough to fall asleep. I did get a little rest in this afternoon - as Judd walked in the door.

One of our neighbors has gone with their daughter to Grand Forks for a week or so. They are older and he walks with a pretty good limp. We are watching their home as well and they are having more seepage than we are. I love my wet/dry shop vac!!! Makes this job easier and it's only two doors down if we need it.

Once again, the Risdal Family is safe and will keep you posted........zzzzzzz

The stories...

First, we are not being evacuated at the time of this post. We are staying put and should be OK.

The pictures below are a few that we took on our way home last night and today on our walk. The brown house is one that we worked on quite a bit yesterday, but the pumps couldn't keep up with the seeping water. They pulled the pumps last night and let it go. The one where they are pumping out the water is a few houses down from the brown one and another one we worked on yesterday. For now the pumps are keeping up, but we have quite a few days to go. Keep up the fight guys!!!

The "Dead End" sign was a sandbagging station, but the river wanted that space. The long black things are super sandbags (that's what I'm calling them). These are only a block from our home. They stretch for blocks at a time and are a contingency to the ones along the backs of the homes on 9th street. The rest of the pictures are of homes & parks along the river straight west and moving north of our home (4th Ave & 10th St North). Pretty much all of them have water up to the dikes you see in the pictures. The snow is kind of deceiving because it is only just covering the water. In most places it just looks like snow banks. If you look carefully at the trees and stuff around, you can tell the water is higher than it looks.

Of course the kids wanted to get in a picture - why should the river get all the attention, right?? At least the house behind them is not ours. River level as of 2:15 pm - 40.69 feet.

We'll keep you posted....

Moorhead Flood 2009 Pics - none of our house

We broke the record - I wish it was a good one to break...

The Red River is officially over the all time record as of 8:15 this morning the level was up to 40.48 feet. We haven't had any more problems since last night, but we are continuing to prepare for the worst. There have been two evacuations for Moorhead, some homes are mandatory and some are highly suggested. One of them for sure was because the storm/sanitary sewer systems are completely full and things are starting to back up. There is a city wide "plug your drains" for anything west of 20/21 Streets. For now we are OK and I will continue to keep you all posted as to our status. If we do get evacuated, we are going to call one family from each side and they will call the rest of you.

Tom is in one of the areas that is highly suggested to leave, but they are staying. This morning he and Judd went to Menard's in Detroit Lakes to pick up a load of tube sand bags to put around his house, just in case.

"How high's the water papa?" She said it's 40.01 feet high and risin'

The Red River passed the 40 foot mark tonight at 12:15 a.m. - 0.19 below the all time record river level set on April 7, 1897. The big flood in April of 1997 only went to 39.57 feet. I was planning on being asleep for this event, but our sinks and toilet started gurgling so we spent a few hours clearing a few essentials from the basement and prepping everything else for a possible light water intake. So far Judd has plugged a few drains and it seems to have stopped. The 72 hour kits are ready to go along with a few extras. Cooter even has her own stuff - leash and all.

The crest has been raised to 42 feet with a small possibility of going to 43 feet. We are still staying put, but we are ready to go if they say we have to. I'm going to try and get some pictures of where I was sandbagging today. The river was only a couple of feet below the top of the 4 foot dike I was working on.

Hmmmmm ... maybe I shouldn't have said "We're moving if we get to 44 feet."

"How high's the water mama?" It's 36.07 Feet and risin'...

They just increased our flood crest and we get to sandbag for another foot up to 43 feet. Thankfully that is just a precaution and the water won't get that high...I hope. Unfortunately, they haven't shortened the length of the crest. We are still looking at about 3 - 4 days of crest before the water starts to drop. Please keep our area in your prayers...we're gonna need it....

"How high's the water mama?" It's 34.89 feet and rising...

With the river levels rising, and our area on the national news, I thought I would put a word out to our family and friends letting you know that we are OK. Our house is actually out of the 500 year flood plain and good until 42.5 - 43 feet. The 6-8 inches of snow we are getting today is not going to help the end result, but the colder temperatures are going to slow the melt. The area is continuing to sandbag and build dikes. The response of volunteers is amazing. There are bus loads of people coming in from miles away to help. For example, yesterday there were 4-5 busloads of high school kids that came in from Fergus Falls, MN - 55 miles away! It just goes to show how people pull together in a crisis situation.

By the way, I told the kids if the river gets to 44 feet.....we're moving. (and so are a lot of people in the FM area!!)