Ice Jam 2009

For those of you NOT from North Dakota, or those of you living under a rock, you may not have heard we are having some water problems here. Not only in Fargo, which is destined to flood almost every year, but also here in Bismarck.  The impossible is happening out here, or so we thought it was impossible.  Moving to Bismarck, we thought we were getting away from the bad winters and flooding but it turns out it can happen here too. We are even getting national attention on CNN, the Weather Channel, and the Today Show.  Click here to see a recent CNN article.

The first of our problems is the two ice jams on the Missouri River located on the north and south end of town.  The south ice jam is blocking water flow from leaving the city of Bismarck, causing the water to redirect onto land. Many homes in this area are flooding. The north ice jam is preventing water fom overloading the south ice jam.  So basically, we need to get rid of the south ice jam before the north ice jam gives way.  If the north ice jam breaks before we can clear the south ice jam, Bismarck is in trouble.  Today they are planning on using explosives to break up the south ice jam.  I just heard a news report that says if you are located within 2 miles of the south ice jam, you should be in the interior part of your home away from windows. How big is this explosion supposed to be?  Good thing most of the homes in that area have already been evacuated.

The north ice jam has been under 24 hour surveillance to watch for breakdown. The area where the ice jam is located is right next to the lot we almost bought 3 years ago on the Missouri River. In fact, Chris told me the surveillance crews are set up ON the lot we were considering. So if that ice jam breaks that lot will be under – as would our home, had we built there.  Hmmm . . . maybe our dreams of living on the river have changed. In fact our home on top of the hill is quite nice right now. And dry.

The second problem is the backing up of the storm drains causing flooding in the streets in town. Because our temperature has now dropped below zero, these drains are frozen up. While the low temps are beneficial for prevention of ice jam breakdown and continued melting, it is NOT beneficial for the freezing storm drains. Many areas of town have been evacuated for this reason – I have heard reports of more than 3 feet of water in some parts of town from backed up drains.

Apparently they have shut down Garrison dam to prevent any more flow of water south to us – for the first time in history. We are also sandbagging around the clock.

Check out this link which shows some pictures of the flood.

The explosion is about to take place at the south ice jam. I’ll keep you posted!

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