NinerKilo

Here's some photos I thought I'd share from my time these past several days helping build sandbag dikes with my fraternity brothers in Fargo, ND.

We were driving in the left lane of I-29, the right lane is covered by water in some spots.


Our sandbagging location in south Fargo. We had to raise the dikes another foot to 43' due to the increased river crest forecast.


Having a little fun at the end of the day on top of the dike we had just built.


I'll try to post more pictures when I get more time.

MrPlow

I remember the great flood of 97' when I lived in Winnipeg and I hear this one may be worse. Good luck with the sandbagging and be safe!

MrPlow

timeless

I used to drive a truck from Grand Forks to Sioux Falls once a week and I don't remember the shallow lake next to I-29.

undflyboy06

It's a good thing that the Corps of Engineers built the levees in Grand Forks up to 60ft. I've always felt sorry for the people north of Grand Forks, like the small towns of Oslo and Alvarado that flood every year.

I'm still waiting for the day when Fargo starts to build a descent levee so not to have the threat of flooding.

NinerKilo

Here's another photo. To give you an idea of how many sandbags are required, each pallet has around 30-50 sandbags, a flatbed semi can carry 24 pallets.

Pilotpip

The only thing levees do is fail. After the flood of '93 a number of the failed levees were rebuilt and extended in the St. Louis area. A majority of them in the area gave way before they were topped last summer.

I went through all of this last summer when the Mississippi flooded. I can't imagine having to go through this in sub-freezing temps. Surreal.

NinerKilo

Well we're certainly hoping the dikes hold both in Fargo and here in Grand Forks. The cold weather has actually been a saving grace for Fargo because it slowed the thaw and the rise of the rivers slowed as well. Unfortunately it means that the river will stay high for a long period with the possibility of a second crest. The second crest shouldn't be as high as the first. The high river levels are projected to remain for longer than normal, which means there's the possibility for erosion of the dikes and it makes us more vulnerable to precipitation as well as meltwater runoff depending on the weather these next couple weeks. So this isn't nearly over yet.

Here's a couple other pictures from along I-29 the first day we went down when the temperatures were well above freezing. All of these areas covered by water are normally farmers' fields.