FLOOD JOURNAL

26 MAR 2009


The snow continues. The feel real temperature is minus 3. The wind is blowing. Sandbagging continues. Buses to carry people to sights are coming from all over, as are individuals. Two bodies equal four arms times thousands. It is more overwhelming to try to realize the amount of support for Fargo than it is to be overwhelmed by the water. Fargo is doing everything they can, with the support of family to family and group to group, and good communication.


The NDSU basketball players here in Fargo, played the Jayhawks from Lawrence, KS in March Madness last week. Those same players are now sand bagging. According to the article in the Lawrence Journal World, "This is a no-brainer for us,” said Saul Phillips, head basketball coach, in a statement. “People need help, and we’ve got able-bodied guys. Anybody that has been around our program knows how well the community supported us, and they need us now. They’ve got us.”
Dennis Walaker, our mayor, told the Salvation Army representative, That any time you see the Salvation Army and the Red Cross working side by side, we know it is a disaster." Yes, it is potentially that real.
Evacuation plans are laid. No matter where one lives in this huge area that has been affected know to move valuables to higher levels and shut off your water to save the laborious hours of cleaning the water system if it flows overland to your property. People who have sand bagged their homes are expected to watch their dikes and report seeping. Dumpsters with sand bags are near. Frozen sand bags, you ask? Drop the bag on the ground, the sand will break up.
It is all about family helping family and groups helping groups. Anytime you see Bison shirts and Fighting Sioux shirts working side by side, you know the people are coming together.
Fear may be a good motivate. Panic doesn't load sand bags. Everyone in the lines at the filling stations and on the dikes themselves are spending their energy going shoulder to shoulder one bag at a time.

If there is a prayer, it probably would be for those who complain to understand this isn't about their trash or street not being cleaned off after the great snowfall. It is about being vigilant one more day, then one more day, one sand bag at a time. That's what the prayer is.

It is like having a sick child. Although we protect them as best we can, we are agog until the fever breaks. When they come into complete wellness, THEN we can breathe.

Vigilance. On guard. Waiting.

Thanks for listening.
e