Floods, Ice Jams, Blizzards Strike the Great Plains

A Black Hawk helicopter from the North Dakota National Guard lifted the enormous reinforced plastic bags of sand and clay dirt, each weighing a ton, and carried them to the site of Fargo's Oak Grove Lutheran School and lowered them to bolster the weakening levee there.

Only hours earlier, while most of the city slept, a leak in the dike was discovered at Oak Grove, and two of the school's five buildings had taken water," says Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds.

About 60 members of the National Guard's Quick Reaction Force and emergency crews from the city responded to the breach, holding back as much of the Red River as they could.

National Guard helicopter carries a one-ton sandbag to the site of the levee breach at Oak Grove. (Photo courtesy USACE)

After the breach was stabilized, the giant sandbags were airlifted using cables and hoists suspended from the choppers. Eleven bags, from one of three prepositioned locations in Fargo, were transferred to the Oak Grove site.

The reinforced plastic material used for the giant sandbags typically is used for holding agricultural products, such as soybeans, as they are lifted onto railcars or semi-trailer trucks. The levee is now stabilized and a secondary dike is holding. No evacuations were required.

Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, adjutant general of the North Dakota National Guard, said the giant sandbags are an example of the Guard and the city teaming together with "creative and innovative" flood-fighting tools. "We have to use these techniques when and where we can," he said.

City leaders commended the Guard and emergency crews for their response to the breach, quick action that surely contained the damage, they said.

Now, with a Blizzard Warning in effect, about 160 citizen-soldiers and citizen-airmen from the Guard are doing walking patrols in two-member teams along Fargo's miles of Red River dike lines to detect leaks and breaches.

A storm system moving through the region will produce snow, wind and blizzard conditions across the entire Northern Plains and Upper Midwest today and tomorrow. Snow accumulations of six to 12 inches are expected in portions of the Dakotas with 20 to 30 inches forecast for the northern Black Hills.

Flood Warnings remain in effect for rivers in western Minnesota and much of eastern North Dakota, and the National Weather Service predicts major flooding will continue from Wahpeton to Oslo, with Drayton and Pembina forecast to go to major flooding.

The Fargo and Wahpeton areas will see a slow fall of floodwaters this week, while ice jams will impact Halstad, east Grand Forks and Oslo. Runoff has decreased greatly due to cold weather.

Still, Governor John Hoeven Friday issued an order directing Fargo hospitals at immediate risk to evacuate in advance of possible severe flooding in the area.

The same order also allows other states to send nurses, doctors and other emergency personnel into North Dakota to practice. It also allows out-of-state ambulances and emergency crews to operate in the state during the emergency.

Crew struggles to contain rushing floodwaters at Oak Grove School, Fargo, North Dakota. March 29, 2009. (Photo courtesy N.D. National Guard)

Since the flooding began last week, North Dakota officials report there have been two unconfirmed fatalities and 61 injuries. Five shelters are in operation serving 264 people.

Governor Hoeven has issued several Orders waiving laws to ease delivery of flood relief. In addition, City of Fargo officials are recommending that all non-essential businesses close operations until further notice.

Ice is jamming up on rivers large and small across North Dakota. To get advice, on March 24, Governor John Hoeven sent a National Guard jet to Omaha, Nebraska to pick up Roger Kay, an Army Corps of Engineers expert with two decades of experience fighting ice jams.

After evaluating the ice formations on the Missouri River, Kay said the one south of Bismarck that backed up Missouri River water into neighborhoods last week was moderate in size but "very severe" in terms of impact.

The flooding forced an estimated 1,700 people from their homes. They returned after river levels dropped following the explosive charges detonated on Wednesday to break up the ice jam.

Weather officials say other ice jams are possible throughout the Red River Valley as river flows continue to break up the ice. Today, the ice jam on the Sheyenne River has eased and more water is flowing towards the Red River.

As they prepare to help the people of Fargo, officials in Bismarck and Mandan are keeping a close eye on the possibility of more flooding in their own area.

The warmer weather later this week combined with new snow could cause more rapid melting and more flooding problems.

"It's no secret the ice is stacked up five miles north of Double Ditch to Double Ditch and it doesn't have anywhere to go," Jim Peluso, Burleigh County Commissioner, told KFYR-TV. "It's sheet ice all the way to Bismarck. South of Bismarck we have another ice jam. There's sheet ice all the way to the South Dakota border."

"I don't think anybody knows what's going to happen if we get a lot of flows it could be nothing, it could just pass, or we could have another ice jam. If something starts to break but nobody really knows. We have to encourage everybody just to stay on their toes, use their best judgement and keep tuned into the media," said Peluso.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.