Rising Waters Worry Mayors
It's a pretty rare spring when mayors along the Red River of the North don't worry about potential flooding. This year isn't an exception. This year,
Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth is sounding weary, and justifiably so:
It's about the polar opposite of sugar sand, which is the first to dry out after a rain. The theory holds that the ideal land would be sugar sand in the spring that turns into clay by mid-May.
The best thing that we can do, if we aren't able to physically help the people of that beleagured region, is to be praying day & night for them. They'll need it.
Posted Saturday, April 1, 2006 11:17 PM
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Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth stood to signal adjournment of a Friday meeting of flood response leaders who had just heard that the waters of the Red River through town would crest higher than they'd planned for. "OK," Barth said decisively, "let's start moving clay." But later, when asked how he felt about having to raise the level of the city's protection half a foot above the earlier target, he took another tone. He was discouraged and angry, he said. "You get tired of worrying." Because the city he governs sits where the Red River forms from two tributaries, Barth's concern is echoed in dozens of cities and counties downstream of the north-flowing Red.Much like in Southern Minnesota along the Minnesota River, the land surrounding Breckenridge is flat & some of the best farmland imaginable. Unfortunately, what makes it rich farmland is what makes it among the most flood-prone land, too. Much of the soil near Breckenridge is thick clay, which has lousy draining capability. That same quality is what helps hold moisture around the crops during a drought.
It's about the polar opposite of sugar sand, which is the first to dry out after a rain. The theory holds that the ideal land would be sugar sand in the spring that turns into clay by mid-May.
"We watch how their water levels are very closely," said Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland. "What happens in Breckenridge is the cue for what will happen here in a few days." The Wild Rice River, which feeds into the Red downstream, is expected to approach the level it reached during the catastrophic flood season of 1997.The best thing that could happen right now is for a dry, warm period to last the next 2-3 days. According to the NWS, unfortunately, that isn't likely to happen.
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The Red is expected to crest at Breckenridge and its twin city, Wahpeton, N.D., late this afternoon at up to 17.5 feet, 7.5 feet above flood stage, 1.9 feet below the 1997 record. After heavy rains overnight Thursday mixed with a rapid snow melt, the crest range is up to a foot higher than predicted earlier.
The best thing that we can do, if we aren't able to physically help the people of that beleagured region, is to be praying day & night for them. They'll need it.
Barth and other leaders of communities along the Red met Friday in Moorhead with Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Most expressed confidence in new flood controls, which, they said, should minimize any flooding. Pawlenty, responding to requests from valley counties and cities, has authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Guard to help in the response.One thing that I applaud Gov. Tim Pawlenty for is his handling of crises during his watch. He's always responded to crises with the appropriate amounts of National Guard and other resources.
Posted Saturday, April 1, 2006 11:17 PM
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