Floods: The rising creeks

Posted at 10:10 AM on March 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Disasters, Floods

Over the next few days, we'll hear a lot about Fargo-Moorhead, but there's more to flooding in the Upper Midwest than the Red River.

Out in North Dakota, the National Guard evacuated some people last evening in the Linton area who were stranded by rising water in creeks that were plugged with ice flows, according to a press release issued by the Guard today.

"The first rescue was of two citizens and two dogs from a farm in rural Carson, N.D. The second rescue of two citizens was from a farm near New Leipzig, N.D. Both farms were surrounded by four to five feet of floodwaters, making overland rescue impossible," it said.

These pictures were provided by the Guard:

These images bring to mind a question I usually have during these types of stories. If you've only got a few minutes, and you can only take what you can grab, what do you take?

I'm heading for the west-central region of Minnesota today, stopping first in Breckenridge and then on to Moorhead. If you're in the area, I'd like to stop and chat with you. Please contact me at bcollins@mpr.org.

---

Comments (2)

I was 13 when our family's house burned down. When confronted with "get out of the house this instant", my impulse was to grab my favorite blanket. Not because I needed it, but for sentimental reasons. I figured anything else could get replaced. 30 year later, I still have it.

Today? Get me, hubby & 2 sons out - everything else in the world is secondary.

Although, if I could grab something, it would be the boys' favorite stuffed animals. Not for any sentimental reasons ... but for the psychological calming effect they would have on the boys while coping with the disaster.

It would be easier to explain to a 4 year old that the cat died rather than try "Mr. Giraffe got lost in the flood".

Posted by Elizabeth T | March 23, 2009 11:11 PM

---

I think about this often having 3 cats of our own plus any fosters who may be in our foster cat room in the basement. We have adequate cat carriers but how to catch everyone when we're (presumedly) in a panicked dither ourselves. Do I need to say, first we'd try to grab our substitute children, the cats? Then what? Wedding pictures? Enough clothes?

We drove back to the Cities today from the Benson area--many, many spontaneous lakes, some full of ducks, geese, swans. Three inches of rain in Murdock, MN last night.

Posted by momkat | March 23, 2009 11:19 PM

---

Post a comment

The following HTML tags are allowed in your comments:
+ Bold: <b>Text</b>
+ Italic: <i>Text</i>
+ Link: <a href="http://url" target="_blank">Link</a>
Fields marked with * are required.

Name*:

E-mail Address*:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments*:

Comment Preview appears above this form upon pressing the "preview" button. Edit your comment and press "preview" again, until you are satisfied with your comment.

Your comment may not appear on the blog until several minutes after it was submitted.

• E-mail this page
• Print this page
• Tweet this page
• Share this

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories