Skyler and Me

The Flood Today

2009-04-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

No pictures today. The flood in Fargo has pretty much subsided. We are expecting another crest by friday. This time they have lowered it to 37 feet. Our first crest was 40.8 feet.
60 mioles west of us it is a whole different disaster. In Valley City they are expecting a crest 2 feet higher than the Sheyenne River has ever been there. Valley City officials have asked almost half of the town to evacuate.
The Sheyenne River is said to be 10 miles wide at places. There is alot of overland flooding going on.

The Red River Today

2009-04-02T18:31:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from the main ave bridge that separates Fargo and Moorhead. The Red is now down 4 feet. It is expected to rise again next week when the 10.5 inches of snow we received starts to melt. The last crest got up to 40.82 feet. The new crest is hopefully only going to get to 37 or 38 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet.

The picture with the water tower, if you look in the middle of the picture. That is a stop sign sticking out of the water.

Whole Lot Of Dirt

2009-04-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

How much dirt is needed to build 45 miles of dikes. A whole lot. The first picture here use to be a soccer field. The city began to run out of dirt so they dug up this soccer fields. The other two pictures are the backhoe's used to dig the trenches. When the flood is over they will rebuild the soccer fields.

The Wild Rice River

2009-04-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

The Red river is now down 4 feet. This is the Wild Rice River and it is also way down. Three days ago you could not see the fence posts sticking out of the water.
The next picture is about 2 miles away. You can see how high the water was when it froze. When it dropped it left this sheet of ice hanging on the trees.

Just A Cool Picture

2009-04-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

This picture really has nothing to do with the flood. It is just a cool picture that I took from our main avenue bridge where I have posted several pictures from during the flood. It is one of those pictures you get totally by accident.

Here We Go Again

2009-03-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

The Red River has dropped over two feet and is now at 38.8 feet which is still 20 feet above flood stage. Now that the river has dropped two feet, they are now letting some people back into their homes and neighborhoods. So just as things are looking up, what you see in these pictures is what we are receiving now. We could get possibly 8 inches of snow before Wednesday.

We have the Coast Guard here that have actually rescued people by airboat and helicopter. People are still in their houses surrounded by water fighting to save their homes. We have towns that are almost completely shut off from the rest of the world.

With all this snow the river will definetly come up again. They are expecting the river to crest again in April when all this snow starts to melt. At one point a few days ago we had no snow.

The Flood Today

2009-03-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have no new pictures. I will just try to give you a picture of what is going on here today with words.
Our river is going down. Many people would like to think that the river has crested and that we are out of the woods now. Not true. We have alot of snow to melt yet, and more snow on the way. As much as 6 inches and more to the south. The cold weather has been a Godsend.
All the dikes are built and now we are in stand and defend mode.
This morning at 1:25 am Oak Grove School dike was breeched, within minutes, 4 teams of the National Guard rapid respones team was on site, as was Army Corp of Engineers and the city. They did lose two buildings, and even though they lost 2 it could have been much worse if not for the planning between all the agencies that are here. They were having a hard time getting it stopped. If there is a breech, they now have thousand pound sandbags that are dropped from helicopters to help stop the leak.
We still have alot of water to the south and to the north of us. Harwood which is just north of us is now basically cut off from the rest of the world except for one road that is a major detour out of that city.
We are not out of this. The water is expected to stay at this level for a another week.

Lost Cabinet

2009-03-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

As we were standing on the bridge. Here came a cabinet that someone will be missing.

The Road Under Main Avenue Bridge

2009-03-28T17:31:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from under the main avenue bridge on March 22. This is where we were taking the pictures today March 28. This Road is now under 22 feet of water.

Woodlawn Park

2009-03-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is Woodlawn Park. We are looking at this park on the Minnesota side of the river. We are standing on the main ave bridge. Pictures are over the last 4 days

The Red River Today

2009-03-28T13:50:00.001-07:00

These are more pictures from the main ave bridge. These pics are from the past four days. The water is getting so high.

We do have good news. With the cold weather the river has now dropped about 2 inches. The other news is we are suppose to get more snow on Monday, but we have alot of snow yet to melt.

The bad news is all that melt will have to come down the Red River Yet.

Red River

2009-03-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from the downtown main ave bridge looking west. The first picture is from the 23rd. Second picture from the 24th and the third from today. No explanation needed.

The Red River Today

2009-03-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

The first picture was taken March 14. Kids are using the dike to sled. The second picture is taken east of the first picture.

Drain 27

2009-03-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not seen drain 27 yet, this is the canal that runs roughly 2 blocks from our house and surrounds us on two sides. The dike is now finished and it is set to take a 43 foot crest.

The Flood Today

2009-03-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from March 24th and 26th. They are pictures of a farmstead 2 miles south of the Wild Rice River. The first picture shows the farmstead on March 24, no water. The next picture is two days later and it is surrounded by water. Yes, that is water right up to the buildings.

Today the weather has turned cold. Tonight it is suppose to get down to zero. I never thought that the weather man would say the low tonite is zero and I would reply,(Thank God). We need the cold to slow the Red River down. The river is suppose to crest tomorrow at anywhere from 41.5 to 42 feet crest. Right now it is sitting at 40.8 feet (flood stage is 18 feet). The rise of the river has slowed down dramatically. Once we reach the crest it may stay high for 3 to 7 days. It is not so much if the dikes can take the high water, but can they take all that pressure for that long.

This the city of Fargo and all of our volunteers since monday have bagged over 3 million sandbags. In the last 24 hours there have been many evacuations of neighborhoods in and outside of the cuty. Dikes have not been breeched, but we ar in uncharted waters. The flood of 1997 reached 39.5 feet. So in all true actuallity we really do not know what is going to happen.

Fargo Flood Pics 2009 (South of Fargo)

2009-03-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

These photos are NOT lakes or beaches. This is ALL farmland south of Fargo under a whole lot of flood water.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090327/ap_on_re_us/midwest_flooding

The Flood Today

2009-03-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

The last three days of this flood fight have been a long fought fight. Mother nature will throw her fury at us with a 39.5 to 41 foot crest. So the volunteers and the city of Fargo go out and build the dike to handle 41 feet. Than mother nature throws 7 inches of snow at us. The crest goes to a hard 41 foot crest so we go out and build the dikes up again. Now the crest is 24 hours away and once again the crest has gone up again to between 41 to 42 feet. So we all go out and now have twenty four hours to get all the dikes up to 43 feet.
Since monday the Fargo volunteers have filled 2.5 million sandbags and more are needed.
Tonite Moorhead has evacuated nursing homes and parts of the cities. All Fargo residents are put on alert. Be ready to evacuate on a moments notice.

Drain 27

2009-03-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

When I first started doing this blog of the flood. I would drive 5 miles south of town to take pictures of the Wild Rice River that was not any bigger than a creek. I knew that this creek would grow into an overland lake. Now the flood has come to me and my family. These pictures are within 2 blocks of my home.

The first picture shows drain 27. The little canal that takes winter melt and rain water away. Now it is full and they are building the dikes on the banks. The water is up to the top of the bank.

The other pictures are of the semi trucks of sandbags, national guard trucks hauling dirt and of course the line of volunteers laying down sandbags

The Fargo Flood

2009-03-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

This is drain #27. at one point it is only 2 blocks from where we live. This drain is used for overflow from heavy rains or winter melt. It usually only has either no water in it or just a trickle. As you can see it is now full. The other pictures that you see are the workers building a dike around it to contain it. This is really getting close to home now.

Today I went out and tried to get pictures of the Wild Rice River. Could not make it. Roads trecherous with ice and snow. On my partial way out there. Discovered that they are building dikes on I-29 right on the edge of town and another one about 2 miles out.

We were suppose to have a crest of 39.9 to 41 feet. They have now raised it to 41 feet on saturday. So the city called out volunteers again to raise the height of all the dikes another foot and put dikes in places that they never had to before. So far this week 2.5 million sandbags have been filled so far.

South of town about 8 miles there is a community that is being evacuated. The water is up to the houses. The sheriffs department has had to evacuate families by air boat.

The Mayor today was asked, what are our chances of beating this. His reply, "one out of four".

Saturday is the crest and it is expected to last 3 to 4 days.

I will try to get out and get pictures tomorrow afternoon. The water is now at 38 feet. We have just receive another 7 inches of snow. Only God knows where this will end up.

Our World Today

2009-03-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

I cannot go out and take my usual pictures today. So, I opened my door and this is what we woke up to today. The river is still rising fast. The roads are trecherous with the rain we received last night. Then it turned to snow and we now have glare ice and blowing snow. The snow was basically gone.

This morning the channel 11 news crew ventured out 7 miles south of town to report on a levee that broke. The national guard had to rescue a family with two children. Sure they have lost their home. The news crew were not sure if they were going to find a way back to town because of the icy roads and all the water. It is getting dangerous here.

All schools have closed. Malls have closed. There are many communities around Fargo that have no water. There are places that need to boil there water. Lift stations are failing. If you have never been in a flood. Life basically can stop as we know it. Now with the snow it just complicates things more.

Even with all of this the city of Fargo is now 95% done with where they wanted to be for this flood. On Monday the volunteers that have stepped up made 450,000 sandbags. Tuesday the volunteers produced over 500,000 sandbags. One thing that you can say about a flood. All differences that people have with each other, no matter what they are. They are put aside. This has brought 1000s of people together in the same cause. Protect the city at all costs.

The Rising Red

2009-03-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from yestersay and today. I tried to take the same shots so it would give you a good perspective on how much the water has come up. We received good news today. The Red 40 miles south of here has crested one to two feet lower than expected. Which could mean the difference from beating and not beating the flood here. Fargo needed to make at least 300,00 sandbags a day to beat the river. Yesterday, Fargo had 10,00 volunteers step up and made 450,000 sandbags in one day. There are now volunteers coming in from all over North Dakota and Minnesota to help the fight.

The Reds A Risen

2009-03-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from the dike. The first picturewas taken on March 14th and the last two were taken today. I think they explain themselves.

The Wild Rice River

2009-03-24T07:08:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from the Wild Rice River 5 miles south of Fargo. The first picture was taken yesterday. The second picture is from today. The river has come up far enough that you can see the river starting to drain into the ditch beside the highway. This river passes under I-29 and just south of here the highway is closed because of water over the road and detours being setup all over.

The Rising Red

2009-03-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Red is still rising and the police were not very happy with me trying to get to the dike to take pictures. These pictures are looking to the west at the dike. If you have seen any previous pictures I was on the dike facing east. where you see the light post. There is a road there. That sidewalk now goes straight to the river.

The Wild Rice River

2009-03-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

This again is the Wild Rice River. The first picture was taken on the 19th and the last picture was taken today the 23rd. The first picture it is a creek. In the second picture it is almost out of its banks. Tomorrow this river will be out of its banks and the overlandflooding will start. In 2006 when this river left its banks it caused miles and miles of overland flooding. This river is 5 miles south of Fargo. Just south of where we live on the south end of Fargo they have setup a dike. They do expect the water from this river to hit the south end of Fargo

The Flood Today

2009-03-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

The flood today has stepped up on many fronts. I-29 which runs north and south through Fargo is now under water about 20 miles south of us. Wilkin County which is 40 miles south of us received 2 inches of rain last night. 50 to 75% of the roads in that county are either under water or damaged. They are south of us and the Red River runs north, so what they get will all come through Fargo. We received about 1 inch last night. We are expecting another 1/2 inch to an inch tonite and tomorrow and then it turns to snow. We could end up with another 3 inches of snow in the next few days. We have several roads closed throughout the city. They have checkpoints set up in different neighborhoods and if you do not live there you cannot get in. If you are caught on the dikes, you could be arrested. It is a serious emergency here that is only getting worse. We need 2 million sandbags to protect the city. That means they need to make 300,000 per day to make what is needed.

The New Dike

2009-03-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of a road by the river. The first picture is from March 14th. The second picture is from March 22nd. This is just one of the many dikes that are going up throughout the city.

Wild Rice River

2009-03-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is the Wild Rice River on March 19th, 20th and 21st. This river is located 5 miles south of Fargo.

Risen Red

2009-03-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Red is rising at a fast pace. The crest was suppose to be on Saturday, March 28 and now they have moved it up to Friday , March 27. They have also raised the crest.

These pictures are from March, 14th, 19th and 22nd. The river today is at 4 feet above flood stage.

My Daily Drive

2009-03-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today, as I again ventured out on my daily drive to get the pictures of the impending flood,

there is now an even bigger sense of emergency. It has started to rain here and we are expecting 1 to 2 inches of rain tonight and more through the next few days. They have again raised the crest of the river. They now say the river could reach 39.5 to 41 feet. 41 feet is 23 feet above flood stage. While driving through town, these trucks are what were all over town. Moving sand for sandbags, moving dirt for dikes and levees, and of course moving sandbags. The Mayor said we would need more than a million sandbags. They are now saying we will need 900,000 more. As I was driving I could feel the sense of urgency. I had that nervous feeling in my stomach of what we are about to recieve. The fury of nature. Here it comes

Yikes Dikes

2009-03-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Dikes, Dikes, Dikes and more dikes. This is the one that is being built down by City Hall. The one picture is looking to the north and the other one is to the south. This dike will be ove three blocks long. You can see by the street signals how high this dike is. This dike is built to hold back a 40 foot crest. They are also buiding dikes in many parts of the city. They are even building one south of the city to hold back the Wild Rice River that is 5 miles south of the city.

Wild Rice River

2009-03-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

This is the Wild Rice River(more like a creek in the summertime). The river is located about 5 miles south of Fargo. The one picture was taken on Thursday, March 19. The other picture was taken on Saturday, March 21. You can see how much it has come up in 2 days. If this flood gets as bad as they say it might. This little creek will go over it banks and turn the surrounding area into the biggest lake you have seen. You can drive south on the highway that goes over this bridge and it will look like two roads going through a lake. Hang on the upcoming pictures of this little creek will amaze you.

The Reds A Risen

2009-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from March 19, 20, and 21. Look at the posts and you can see how fast the water has risen in 3 days. Hold on folks this is only the beginning.

2009-03-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

This series of photos of the falls at the dike is from March 15th thru 19th. You can see by the pictures that the water in the first picture is actually going down a dip. The last pictures the water is becoming level. Now the water will continue to go up over the banks and continue rising. There is a sense of urgency in Fargo if we will make it. The Mayor said today, that if we are to make it before the crest on March 28. Fargo will need 1.3 to 1.5 million sandbags. The city is already building dikes on the river level roads. The Mayor has asked for as many volunteers that can help. In a few days there will be crews filling sandbags 24 hours a day. I am taking pictures in diffrent parts of the city and I will be posting pictures here daily.

Fargo Flood 2009

2009-03-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Flood 2009. Today they made the prediction that we have a 50/50 chance of the Red River hitting 40 feet. All this is happening 2 weeks earlier than anyone expected. If you look at the picture of what looks like a ruler. It is marked with the level of the last 3 floods and the years. The other pictures which I took on March 14 show the falls and the surrounding area. I took these pictures where we refer to as the dike. The dike is built to protect to 41 foot flood stage. You can see the dike behind the big measuring stick. The pictures of the river show where the river flows over the dam. I have taken pictures everyday of the river since the 14th. I will be taking pictures everyday of the river until the flood is over. I will continue to post pictures everyday as I take them and the river continues to rise and recede. Today, the city of Fargo has begun to close roads that are close to the river. They will begin to build dikes on these roads to protect the city from the rising river. More posts to come.

Skyler, me and the Snowbank

2009-03-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Skylers School canceled classes today so we went out and played in the snow. He is almost getting big enough that it is getting to be a chore to pick him up and throw him in a snowbank. Skyler was laughing so hard while I was trying to pick him up. In the smaller pictures he thought he could beat me at thumb wrestling. It was just a fun snow day.

Skyler And His Tower

2009-03-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Skyler has finally started on his K-nex tower again. As you can see he now has some of the track that the balls run on. He also has the conveyer built. This conveyer will take the balls from the bottom of the tower, bring them back to the top and then they are released on the track where they go down again. I am excited to see this built and working. This will be 5 feet tall when it is done.

Skyler has also tried out for a play and he got the part. I am so proud of him for going out and giving this a try. He does have a speaking part. I know he will do great.

K-nex Tower

2009-02-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

This is the beginning of a Knex kit that we got Skyler for Christmas.He got it this far and has not made alot of progress as of late. So this will be our next project to complete. When he is done this will be as tall as Skyler. It will have several ball that roll from the top to the bottom. This will be so cool when he gets it done. Skyler, I just can't wait to see it completed

2009-02-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

Skyler and I have been building Lego spaceships. As we were building we were fighting over parts. Mine is the one with the blue wing on the front. Mine can swim or fly and is built low to go under enemy radar. It was alot of fun building legos with Skyler. I am sure that we will be building many more. Our next project will be finishing his Knex tower.

2009-02-09T18:52:00.001-08:00

2009-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, February 7th. I took my wife, my son and my grandson to the monster trucks at the Fargodome. We all had my son convinced that it was sold out and I could not get tickets. I actually had tickets for more than a month. My son had no clue until I pulled up, rolled my window down and the ticket person asked for three dollars to park. My son perked up and the first thing out of his mouth was "you got tickets". That is when I told him that I had tickets for more than a month. Needless to say he was overwhelmed. My wife thought it was cool. My grandson thought the superman car was pretty nifty too. These trucks are cool.

2009-02-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

For Halloween last year I had this vision of having a hand look like it was comimng out of my head. In the next few pictures you will see how that vision came to reality. I had children stop in their tracks and stare. My 9 year old son wanted to be Dracula. My 21 year old stepson, well I am not sure exactly what he was, but we made a good pair.

Blue Angels

2009-01-29T16:44:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from the Fargo Air Show in June of 2007. We took over 400 pictures that day. It was hot out. To watch these jets do their manuevers at the speed they attain is amazing. I tried to narrow it down to a few pictures. In some of these pictures they are only a few feet to inches apart. They will be back in Fargo August

22 and 23, 2009. If you ever get a chance to see them it is worth it.

B17 Flying Fortress

2009-01-28T19:25:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid in grade school my favorite warplane was the B-17 Flying Fortress. It is the plane that is credited for beating Germany in WWII. These planes dropped bombs on Germany for weeks at a time without stopping. Day and night. Last summer this plane stopped at the Fargo Airport for a weekend. You could walk through it and even go for a ride in it.