Near-record GF Flood Stabilizes

While Fargo had its record-breaking flood, in Grand Forks river heights have already passed 1979s third-highest on record and were still rising at press time. As of this Tuesday, cool temperatures and the slower than expected rising rate reduced the predicted Grand Forks crest from an expected 52 or more down to 50 feet or possibly less, well below the 54.35-foot record from 1997.

This year’s high water point, expected this Thursday or Friday, could still equal or surpass the 50.2 foot second-worst flood on record in 1897. Last Friday, the Red River in Grand Forks was at 48 feet, remaining relatively steady all day Saturday before jumping several inches on Sunday morning and settling back to a very gradual rise through Monday and Tuesday. By this Tuesday night, it was approximately 49.3 feet, covering the approaches to the downtown Sorlie Bridge, and almost reaching the new flood wall.

Two of the three bridges from Grand Forks to East Grand Forks have been closed for a week, with the third able to stay open through just over 52 feet of water. Having the only functional bridge on the north end of town has severely reduced traffic in downtown East Grand Forks. This has cut attendance at several restaurants and the popular River Cinema, although the parking lot at Grand Forks’ Carmike Cinema had more cars on the weekend than it’s seen in months.

Classes at UND were cancelled from last Tuesday noon through this Monday, resuming this Tuesday morning. With the reassurance of the now-completed Grand Forks dike system, numerous UND students and other local volunteers headed to Fargo and surrounding towns to help with flood fighting efforts there.

Nevertheless, many Grand Forks homeowners and businesses elected to take their own precautionary measures, from rerouting sump pumps to sandbagging to moving items out of basements to higher levels. Despite the impressive new flood wall, no one who went through the 1997 Grand Forks disaster will forget the official reassurances that continued to be issued until hours before the early morning evacuation order on April 19.

The elimination of several low-lying neighborhoods in both Grand Forks and East Grand Forks after the 1997 flood has given the river a larger area to flood safely before it reaches the new dikes, helping reduce the threat, or at least the rapidity of the rising. Although most residents within the city have felt relatively safe with the new flood protection system and the less severe predictions, many rural Grand Forks residents had to go through the same extensive flood preparations as in 1997, luckily with water not quite reaching those levels.

Heavy snows and poor visibility Monday night and Tuesday closed the Interstates and prompted worries of a higher and/or second flood crest, but Grand Forks received much less new snow than feared. Upriver ice jams and future precipitation will no doubt have an effect on the river levels yet to be determined.

Grand Forks residents are thankful for the city’s re-engineered sewer lift stations and the extensive permanent dikes constructed after the 1997 flood. They are now getting the chance to see how well they work and can certainly empathize with Fargo-Moorhead’s situation this spring.