Water Wings and Other Life Savings Devices

Go get yourself a cup of coffee and settle down in front of your computer.  I’ve got a lot to say today.  But then Ole tells me I have a lot to say ALL the time.  Oh, well, that’s his opinion.  If you get bored, just click that little red “X” in the upper-hand corner. 

We have SUBMARINES in our backyard this morning!  No, not because all of our snow melted YET, but when I stuck a ruler in the new snow that we received overnight, it measured out at 12 inches.  Living by the river means that not only do we have lots of water in the spring, but all winter long we have a lot of squirrels that come up to our deck and stuff their faces on all the bird food that I put out.  This morning the snow was so deep and because it was so light and fluffy they couldn’t run across the top of the snowbanks like they’ve been doing.  It’s hilarious to watch these white “lumps” burrowing under the snow and every six feet or so leaping up through the snow to see if they’ve gone the right direction and how much farther they have to go to reach the buffet lunch. 

When Ole and I got up this morning and looked out the window we made a unanimous decision that we better go find our water wings or even think about lifting our house 10 feet in the air and put it on stilts.  You know – like those beach houses on the Atlantic coasts so they can withstand hurricanes.  After all, we do have our own beach front property for short periods of time on a yearly basis.  The only problem is that being beach front property in our case doesn’t enhance the value of the property.  It makes it difficult at this point to even GIVE it away!! 

So I wonder what this new snowfall is going to do to the crest predictions for the Red and the Buffalo.  One day last week I was listening to the Scott Heinen show on AM 1100 The Flag.  He was interviewing Dennis Walaker regarding flood issues (of course, what else is there to talk about right now?).  For those of you who aren’t from this area, Dennis Walaker is the current Mayor of Fargo, ND and prior to that was the Public Works Operations Manager for many years.  So he’s been through many a flood fight over the years.  I found his interview to be most interesting as the general concensus of it was that in 1997 the Weather Bureau got caught with their pants down and since that time they have been making very high crest predictions to “cover their butts.”  The next day there was an article in the Forum stating pretty much the same thing.  He stated that he compares snow packs through visual observations over the years and makes his judgments using his compiled data along with how the spring melt goes and can usually make a close prediction from that.  Over the last few years he has been extremely accurate, where the Weather Bureau hasn’t. 

The next day Mike McFeely on KFGO radio did a whole segment bashing Dennis Walaker and his methods of predictions.  I guess when the day comes that Mike McFeely can do a better job than Dennis Walaker, THEN he might have some credibility.  For now, Mike McFeely has nothing going for him other than being a bag of wind, something which Minnesota doesn’t need more of!!

The people who put out the predictions need to be very careful that they have accurate information.  A couple of weeks ago Ole and I went to a Flood Information meeting that was held in our local community.  The first statement that was made by the gentleman that was conducting the meeting was that the Buffalo River had a 90% chance of exceeding 20 feet, which meant that it would crest at least 12 inches higher than the 500-year record.  There were a lot of people attending that meeting that have been affected by flooding in the past and you can’t imagine how that statement put everyone’s heart up into their throat.  I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.  If the river was going to crest that high Ole and I might as well just start packing that night and move out never to return.  When I questioned him about this prediction he became quite flustered and realized that he had given out misinformation.  Unfortunately, he didn’t even have the correct information available.  I had more up-to-date, accurate information than he did!  Thank heavens a lady from the county health department did have the correct information and had the presence of mind to correct him. 

I know that it’s the job of the news media, the law enforcement people, and the organizations that are helping with the planning of the flood flight to disseminate information. But the one issue that I have is that they all tend to sensationalize everything without any idea how those kinds of reports wear on those folks that will be involved in the coming water issues.  It’s going to take all the energy and stamina that these folks have to get through these next weeks.  They need accuracy.  Report the FACTS, not rumors or things that are going to build up ratings. 

Okay – I’ll get off my soapbox now.  Ole always says I talk too much anyway – - – he hasn’t heard anything – yet!!

So now we’ve reached 2009 in Photographic History of Our Time on the Buffalo River.  2009 crested at 19.03, the third highest crest since we moved onto the property.  It’s the year the water rose the fastest and it was also the most difficult to clean up after.  But I’ll get to that later.

The photo below is taken out the front door of our garage.   We had managed to get all the antique and restored vehicles out to higher ground in time because the water rose to just about its crest level in a matter of 5 hours.  To the east of our property there is a huge drainage ditch that comes from the east and drains a lot of water coming from the lakes area and the Downer area.  All the fields along this drainage ditch have a dike running along them that’s 3 feet high so that the water coming from the east won’t run into and cover the farm fields along the way.  This ditch has two concrete culverts going under each crossroad or field approach that you could drive a small car through.  This was the year that “someone” authorized backhoes to clean all the snow and ice out of this ditch so the water would run to the river faster.  We called the County, the Township and the Watershed Board, none of whom would take responsibility for the authorization.  So as a result we had a very short time to prepare for the high water in 2009.   See our trusty row boat covered with ice and snow?

Our daughter lived on our property at this point – in the mobile home that you see in this picture.  Fortunately, she didn’t have a basement to be concerned about, although the water came within a few of inches of reaching her main floor. 

Here’s a few more shots just to give you an idea of how much fun all this was.  See the mailbox out by the highway?  The highway was under about 6 inches of water at this point.

This one’s taken out my back door.  The water was lapping at the concrete floor of the 3-season porch we have on the back of our garage.

 

 This was also the year that the National Guard came in air boats to check on all the people along the river.  All the years that we’ve dealt with flood issues this was the first year this ever happened.  Previous years it was as though the Buffalo didn’t exist when it came to flooding.  There was very little about it on the news or in the paper.  It was as though we didn’t exist.  

2009 also left us with the biggest mess to clean up.  It took Ole and I the entire summer to clean up the yard after that flood.  The fall of 2009 was very wet – lots of rain during the time when the farmers should have been harvesting their crops.  Lots of fields didn’t get harvested that fall so that left a lot of standing grain, corn and beans in the fields, along with sugar beets and potatoes that didn’t get dug out of the ground.  These fields were all inundated with water when spring came.  Of course under these conditions things started to rot.  When the water was at its highest point we had a very strong wind which blew all this rotten vegetation into our yard along with all kinds of other junk.  We had 55 gallon oil drums, someone’s 250 gallon fuel oil tank, various tires and huge tree trunks that had broken off and landed in our yard.  There were plastic pails and 5 gallon jugs that had contained chemicals.  You can’t imagine what it was like to step out the door and immediately smell this oily, chemical, rotten vegetation smell all around you.  It actually burned the inside of your nose.  When the water went down we were left with piles of river reeds and other vegetation 6 to 12 inches thick that we had to get off the grass before it was killed.  We spent the entire summer raking and burning and hauling and cleaning.  The only thing good that happened out of that summer was that I developed some good biceps from all the raking!!  Hey – you gotta get something good out of everything that you can.  Right?

 

Okay, I’ll quit now – but that’s not because I’m out of words.

Love, Lena