Scott Olson/Getty ImagesThe big flood in March last year meant residents in Perley, a small town north of Fargo, Minnesota, were isolated for two months. Highways were closed as river levels reached 39 feet—21 feet higher than the flood level.
The town’s 111 residents, including 17 children, had enough water to flush the toilet, but not enough for showers, or to wash clothes, after a large chunk of ice hit the town’s main well, according to Perley Mayor Ann Manley.
“There were big ice chunks floating all over the farmland,” Manley said. “It just about devastated some of our businesses.”
Farmers were unable to start planting until June—usually the crops go in during March. The area is farmed mainly with sugar beets, wheat, corn, and soybeans.
In Fargo, local police officer Mike Kjera, 45, was forced to abandon his home. He stayed with a friend and helped maintain a 12-mile-long dike built to protect the town.
“You’re sitting basically a ways below, in some places you’re probably 10 feet below the dikes,” Kjera said in an interview March, 2009. “This has never been seen before. You sort of get used to it, but not when you get water like this. This is unbelievable.”
The area is prone to flooding; the Red River has exceeded flood stage in 50 of the past 106 years, and every year from 1993 through 2009.
A 500-year event would flood nearly the entire city of Fargo and a large portion of the city of Moorhead, as well as several smaller communities in the area. Average annual flood damages are estimated at over $65 million.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working with Fargo and nearby Moorhead officials to secure a long-term solution to the flooding.
Bob Zimmerman, an engineer for the neighboring city of Moorhead said the flood in 2009 was a record.
“Our flood fight involves just an incredible amount of temporary measures,” he said.
Last year, 3.5 million sandbags were used to save more than 700 houses, said April Walker of the city of Fargo’s engineering department.
Scott Olson/AFP/Getty Images Once the sandbags were filled, they had to remain warm enough to prevent it being like “stacking frozen turkeys,” she said.
This year, there will another flood, Walker said. There has already been a 24-inch snowstorm in the area. “We know we’ll be fighting a flood, we just don’t know the magnitude yet.”
Flood Diversion Options
Two main options are being laid out for flood diversion solutions by the Corps of Engineers. One is a ditch through North Dakota and the other is a ditch through Minnesota. The Corps of Engineers currently favors the Minnesota alignment option, looking at the solution from a federal cost-benefit level.
Residents of the area prefer the North Dakota option, which would protect more homes, Walker said.
Perley residents would rather see holding ponds south of Fargo, said Mayor Manley.
“We can’t handle any more water,” she said. The Minnesota diversion option would run through the south of the Perley area, potentially causing more severe flooding to the region.
The government will put up more than $4 million for the chosen plan, while almost as much is up to local funding. Fargo officials have passed a sales flood tax policy that will add half a cent to sales over 20 years. This, plus funding from North Dakota and surrounding counties will pick up the shortfall.
Project manager for the Corps of Engineers, Craig Evans, said the options are all still open and public debate is welcomed. Public meetings will be held in early February before a draft report is released mid-February.
“If everyone says ‘we like the optimal federal plan,’ things can move very fast,” Evans said. “We’ve felt based on initial screening that the Minnesota alignment is the most optimal way.”
Plans are expected to be locked down and presented to Congress by December this year, he said.
