FLOOD JOURNAL

The next few days will be my flood journal while I get notes and equipment ready for a really, truly exciting genealogy adventure.

March 24

Fargo has several permanent dikes, just not all the way around the city. We have incredible support from the universities, National Guard, city crews, and plain old people like Tom who filled sand bags last night; first between a 14 year old and her mother and next between two 'convicts' from the Cass County jail. He was not out in the lightening and thunder but waited for the bus in the rain. His body was cold when he crawled into bed about 11 PM. I spooned in behind him and told him to keep talking about his experience until he felt sleepy, no doubt it was exhilarating to be part of the masses.

If humans can save a town, this group of organizers will make it happen. They have live new briefs throughout the day and those in charge update the rest as well as the city. Yesterday they hoped to fill 300,000 bags, because of the quality of the spirit in this town, they did 450,000. People are coming from all over. An NDSU representative, at the news brief, said college kids are coming from St. Cloud and other cities within 150 miles are on their way.

According to the ponding map, if the dikes break, we are safe here in 6th Avenue. That only means the house is okay, the infrastructure of the sewer system may still be compromised. Before that happens, however, they will shut it down.

One man, interviewed earlier in the week, dropped his sandwich he had gotten from the Red Cross. On a twisted note, doesn't that give new meaning to SANDwich?

In all the concern, there is much praise to all the folks that have come together for the common good. Tom's sister, in Grand Forks, offered us bed and board.