Let us begin to fight
The pre-emptive strike on the waters of the Red River of the North began on Valentine's Day with the opening of sandbagging operations. The river is mostly frozen solid now. There was a week of warmer weather after that week. But then winter re-asserted its position and put us back into the freezer. As March approached it looked like a warming trend would return. However, it again was upended by winter and powerful winds.
Yesterday, there was a record volunteer turn out at sandbag central in Fargo: a little over 800. Moorhead did not fare as well. The city on the east bank just started sandbagging, but only a handful of volunteers turned up.
Forecasters have predicted a major flood based on the amount of moisture in the snowpack. It has been a rather snowy winter. 8 foot snow banks were common along the boulevards and avenues and many are in fact still intact.
As for the actual flood, the waters won't be rising for another few weeks. Ice and snow are pretty well solid. So now we "fight" and wait.
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