Flood Watch: Ready in Moorhead

Steve Schaefer lives in Moorhead on the river. After last year's flood, he and his family made some changes to lower their risk of flooding.

Thanks to the work we did over last summer (filling in our walk-out basement, new landscaping), we're not worrying too much about our home. Our new landscaping takes us above 40' of protection. That means that as long as there are no changes to the crest level, we should not have to sandbag this year. I may need to put down some plastic to cover the fresh soil so it doesn't erode when the water gets up to it, but that will be far easier than building a dike. Hallelujah!

The line at the bottom of this stake in Steve's yard shows the 40' protection level.

The flood fight is much more organized and coordinated this year. Part of that is due to a predicted crest about 3 feet lower than last year, but the other part is that we've all been anticipating this flood since early in the winter. Both Moorhead and Fargo have done a great job with the upgrades that have been made for city-wide flood protection and the decision by each city to start pre-filling sandbags three weeks ago has paid off immensely.

Living through the floods definitely gives one a great respect for the power of nature and how we have to live in tune with our environment. During the flood last year, there were extreme moments of concern, but the camaraderie of the community effort is something that I will value and remember always. It would not have been possible to successfully protect our home and our community without the incredible effort of everyone in the community as well as all the volunteers from outside Fargo-Moorhead who gave time and effort to help us out.