FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – Fargo has drawn up its plans for the possibility of a severe flood this spring.
City Administrator Bruce Grubb told city commissioners Fargo plans to fill 250,000 sandbags to protect the city to 41 feet, giving the city 2 feet “freeboard” for a possible 39-foot crest, which in the latest outlook from the National Weather Service indicates a 10% probability of happening.
He said the chance of a severe flood is “a flip of the coin.” Of the last 7 emergency flood fights, 3 hit the upper-level crest predictions. Grubb said,”We plan to err on the side of caution and it’s worked well for us so far.”
To protect against a 39-foot flood, Fargo will need nearly 5 miles of clay levees, nearly one-and-a-half miles of rapidly deployed trap bags and almost 2 miles of sandbags. The joint City-Cass County sandbagging operation will begin at the Fargo Solid Waste building, known as Sandbag Central, Tuesday, March 10th and continue through March 13th, from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. daily.
Assistant City Engineer Nathan Boerboom said depending on the weather in the next several weeks, it’s possible Fargo could see “high water” on the Red River as soon as the middle of March. He said they won’t know more specific’s on the flood until the spring thaw begins and what the run-off from the melting snow looks like. That will provide the National Weather Service with more accurate information on river crests.
Boerboom said, “you plan for the upper end knowing we can scale back easily and adjust appropriately.”
