Fargo- Moorhead Flood Preparation Updates.

I just came from the other side of our block and this is what I spent the morning doing. Filling and moving sandbags. But its harder now. Fatigue is setting in much quicker for those who have been at it hours on end.

And yet the amazing stories continue to roll in. We had a huge thunderstorm last night and set a record for amount of rain in one day for the month of March. Through the rain and the storm, nobody stopped. Nobody asked to quit.

And thankfully the volunteers keep arriving. They are coming by truck, bus, car, and van. I saw a man on oxygen, sitting on a bucket, separating bags. And then there was the elderly Ibuprofen lady. She came around with 3 Ibuprofen and bottled water and she was one busy woman. She may very well have been an angel in the midst of the chaos, but its hard to tell because I am convinced there are many.

In the photo above is the coulee that was empty on Sunday and this is as of early today.

In the photo below, the river is just behind the trees although I see it spilling out over the road already.  I couldn't get back there, but you can tell its coming.

In the photo above you can see the slanted roofed house which is the one my in-laws built in the 90's.  During the flood of '97 they said the water came up almost to the house but they remained dry and thankful.  They sold the house in 2000 and another new family just moved in. 

This last photo is right in front of my house. "War zone," comes to mind.

Mud Pit

Just a few quick pics and words. I'm in awe of the tremendous effort being put forth. I hardly dared stop to snap these few photos because that is just how hard and fast everyone is working. So I couldn't show you the massive amounts of people lined up passing sandbags... you'll have to trust my word that there are many. I have no idea how high the river is or where there is overland flooding. We've heard interstate 29 is down to one lane in places. Many county road are under water. We're just glad its not here, yet.

The colleges cancelled classes and we have had bus loads arriving all day. I laughed at one of the city buses with its "sandbagger express" sign on the window. Its starting to drizzle and I am putting kids to bed when I can excavate them from under their layers of dirt. Thank you for all the phone calls, offers of help and prayers. We truly appreciate it.

Wanted: 1 Ark.

I hardly know where to begin. At 9pm last night our neighbor called. He was rallying the troops for sandbag duty today. A block and 1/2 away from our house is a coulee known to overflow with water in the spring. The coulee winds down and around and ends up at the park down the street from us. We arrived at noon. It was windy and overcast. We organized into groups and began forming lines passing sandlbags to one another.

Optimally the sandbags should weigh about 30 lbs. But some were fairly generously packed with close to 50 lbs. We began in a yard in which the grass had begun to turn green and by the end of the day was nothing but a giant muddy pit. We used 4 wheelers and trailers to haul the sandbags in. Even Nolan stood amongst us hoisting the heaviest of bags. I was proud of his desire and willingness to work. On the homefront Grandpa and Grandma Westra were holding down the fort. Grandpa got busy plugging our drains and pulling the toilet from the basement bathroom. Thank goodness for Grandpas who are in the know!

The national guard took up patrol outside our home preventing unnecessary cars from entering our subdivision. The stream of gravel trucks was never ending. I counted 15 in about a 20 second span of time. An earthen dike was constructed across 40th avenue with the dirt from all the gravel trucks. How people will get to work in the morning is a mystery to me! The boys are crossing their fingers for a day off from school, convinced the bus won't be able to get through to pick them up. After almost two whole weeks of no school, I assured them I will row them in a makeshift boat if need be :)

As I looked back through the pictures I am struck by the one thing missing. The water! But its coming. We know from past experience it'll spread across land running over the ground still frozen in places. And it will overflow the banks of the river and swamp the ditches meant for drainage. In the morning it will look vastly different.

Its 9:00 pm as I write this. Rain is pouring down. At last report, while 1.5 million sandbags had initially been requested, the city officials just asked for an additional 900,000. They also said the area of most concern currently is our neighborhood in South Moorhead. The flood fight of 2009 is on. We're weary. We'll be sore tomorrow :) But we're also dry so far.

"Flood Preparations"

All that melting snow has to go someplace. In 1997, the Red River Valley and surrounding areas suffered 3.5 billion in flood related damages as the Red River flooded its banks in the worst flood since 1826 according to Wikipedia. This weekend we are engaged in preparing our house for the possibility of flooding, as the community as a whole starts filling sandbags and building dikes to help keep the overflowing Red River at bay. While water may encroach upon 40th avenue running past our house, it should only come within a block of our house or so. But we still have to be vigilant about our sewer system's and lift station's ability to keep up with the deluge of water. We are scrambling today to find an adequate battery backup for our sump pump should it either quit working or the power get shut off to it in a power outage. Rick enlisted the help of his parents who are on their way to Bemidji, MN which is maybe 3 hours away from us, to look for the battery and some much needed sewer plugs for our basement.

This morning we asked both boys to clean up all the toys on their floor. With Nolan's room being in the basement he especially needed to get everything up off the floor. Lickety-split he was done. Promising there was no mess he was okayed to go ride bike to his friend's house. When are we going to learn? Just see for yourself what an amazing job he did.





Its passable. The floors are indeed clear of any objects. But just where do you suppose all of his stuff went? Think eight-year-old- boy who just really wants to go and play with his friends and you might conclude where the most logical place would be to put all of your things...



Brilliant. Now the only thing on the floor tonight will be Nolan.

Birthdays Galore.

My youngest niece Mackenzie, is turning two this Saturday! Rick and I travelled to Alabama to meet her for the first time when she was 8 months old. She was just delightful. And every time she smiles, I see her Dad's mouth. Nolan has a bit of that mouth and looked like his Uncle Matt when he was first born. We hope to go see Mackenzie and her family again this summer and get to learn about all the big girl things she is doing now.


She shares her birthday with my brother's wife, my sister-in-law Kelly. Although I must confess, I know Kelly's birthday is either the 20th or the 21st. She has told me before which exact day it is, and then I go right back to getting it wrong again. So now I choose not to try and remember and I just try to get a card in the mail close to that time :)  I had to hunt all night to find a picture with her in it. I ended up going back 7 years and found a really cute one.  I will tell you firsthand though, she is beautiful on the inside and out.  She is a kind, generous, loving person and she brought warmth to our family as well as a lot of fun.  We feel very lucky to have her as part of our family.

Also sharing the limelight on Saturday is my friend Amy.  She became a fast friend the year her husband chose Nolan to be on his hockey team.  And so like all good hockey moms she is celebrating her 40th birthday in Minneapolis at the WCHA Final Five... yes she is watching hockey!  Hopefully she is squeezing in a little fun as well.  Amy is sitting to my left, wearing black in the photo.  

Happy Birthday Amy, Kelly and Mackenzie!! 

State Tourney Wrap-up.

Its been interesting to continue to hear stories of events that occurred in the state tournament this past weekend. Rick has had a challenging time trying to sort through a season's worth of photos and video for the high school boy's banquet next Monday. He managed to compile a handful to share with me. Its a bit tricky trying to navigate the rules of photography at the state tourney level and how to share your work publicly.






Rick rented a fish eye lens for some cool shots of the fans and the crowd. This was taken right before the Championship game.





This picture, to me, is one of my favorite moments of the tourney. Let me explain. In 2005, Cory Johnson played in the state tournament hockey game. Nolan, who was 4 at the time and in his first year of hockey, looked up to Cory. At the semi-final game we sat next to a woman wearing a button with Cory's picture on it. Nolan spotted it right away. So I asked her about it and she told us she was his mom. Nolan's eyes got big. I shared with her how much of a fan Nolan was of him. She replied, yes he is a good player, but he isn't my only one. She went on to say she also had a son named Trent who was a good hockey player as well. We chatted throughout the game and I couldn't help but notice the way her eyes danced with excitement when she talked about her sons. The game was a battle and we cheered in awe of the boys and their talents. I learned later on, Mrs. Johnson was in a fight of her own. She had lung cancer with a poor prognosis. She passed away later that year.

Flash forward to 2009. It is now Trent's senior year. He is a captain of the hockey team. I couldn't help but think how proud his mother would have been to see him play the game of his life Thursday night when he helped knock off the #1 team in the state. But the most fitting moment came at the awards ceremony. If you know any hockey history, you may recall the coach of the "miracle on ice" 1980s team, Herb Brooks. He is famous for helping the United States win the gold medal by beating the Russians. And he is also well known for his saying that the name on the front of your jersey is more important than the name on the back of your jersey. You can read more about it here. Sadly, the beloved coach was killed in a car accident in 2003. His family has created the Herb Brooks foundation and because of his love of the Minnesota State Hockey Tournament, one player is selected for the Herb brooks award at the end of the Championship game. It is given to the most qualified hockey player in the state tournament who strongly represents the values, characteristics, and traits that defined Herb Brooks. Trent Johnson was the recipient of the 2009 award. In the eyes of every person I have talked to, he is very deserving.



Here are the Captains of the Moorhead team accepting their second place trophy.




This happens to be another of my favorite moments of the tournament. We had a big reception for the players at our hotel after the game. They had been emotionally devastated after the game and when they walked into the courtyard of the hotel it erupted into literally minutes of loud clapping and cheering. Every balcony from the second through the sixth floor was crammed with fans leaning out cheering for them. It was 11 o'clock at night and there was an ambient glow throughout. We hoped they could feel how very proud we all were of them.


















The rest of the night our young hockey loving boys ran circles around their favorite players asking for autographs and wanting to just be close to them.  The younger boys have seen the blood, the sweat and on this night the tears that go into playing the game of hockey. The older boys are who they look up to. Its who they want to be when they grow up. I am totally fine with that. In fact, I can't think of anything else I'd rather see them want to be.