Red River Flood Watch - Day 4 Major Flood Stage

Posted by Alexandra Matiella Novak Mar 26, 2009

Experiencing the anxiety and uncertainty that go with natural disasters has been tiring and exciting at the same time. I've never been this close to a natural disaster. I've climbed volcanoes and have straddled faults, but never did I feel like a disaster was looming and I was at risk. The most scared I've ever been on a volcano is on the morning of 9/11 when we had just ascended to the top of Lassen Peak Volcano in California. We were out in the middle of nowhere and had no cell reception for days. But at the top of Lassen Peak that morning, everyone was getting cell phone reception and checking in with friends and family. The news spread through our group and suddenly we were not in the mood for visiting the Destruction Zone of the last Lassen Peak eruption.

But this experience is much different because not only am I very near a hazard, I am also at risk. Luckily for us, the community of Grand Forks, we have engineering on our side with the help of our Flood Wall. Although the Red River is rising very quickly just a few blocks from us - and exactly one block from my home - everyone is looking to the wall for protection and relief. It's a lot of pressure to put on a wall, and coupled with the pressure from the rising river, it will be amazing if it can handle it. But I do believe Grand Forks will watch the Red River roll on by without any harm to the city.

Things in Fargo are much worse and we can only hope that their sandbagging efforts pay off. I think, with the generosity and spirit of all the young people who have been pouring into Fargo to lend assistance, they will build the best sandbag wall in all of human history. In fact, classes at UND were canceled today until Monday so that more students could travel to Fargo and places south of Grand Forks to help with sandbagging efforts.

We are now at Major Flood Stage in Grand Forks, meaning the River has reached a stage of 46 feet.

Picture Captions:

1. The Grand Forks Flood Memorial. Picture taken in October of 2008.
2. The Red River on March 24, 2009 at 6 pm CST. River level is at 38.22 feet.
3. The Red River on March 25, 2009 at 9 am CST. River level is at 42 feet.
4. The Red River on March 26, 2009 at 7:30 am CST. River level is at 45.7 feet.