My uncle lives in Fargo, and I just received this e-mail from him regarding the flood, and potential for more flood. I thought I'd post it in the first comment section, as it represents an on-the-ground analysis rather than that of the national and international media that can, so often, start feeling generic. I found the "Code Red" civilian response force (see below) the most interesting, a sort of antithesis to Pepe's playland. And just the other day, a friend of mine who hails from Pittsburgh, and is readying to defend his doctoral history dissertation from U of Chicago, said, "Fargo's response to this flood, the entire community rallying, has literally restored my faith in humanity..."
We might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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My uncle's words (he's writing to his brother, another one of my uncles):
Just up from a nap... pretty tired here. We are dry at our house so far... and likely will be that way.
The river seems to be going down, but it really is too soon to tell. With warmer weather (It was 0˚F yesterday morning), and rain, or snow.... things could change again in an eye blink. [note: this evening Bismarck is expecting another snowfall, anywhere from 6"-12"]
The national media hasn’t gotten much correct so far, but we are having a flood!
We are some of the highest ground in Fargo,,, but are still only 2.5 blocks from the river. You know that “high” in Fargo means 2 feet up ......:>).
My wife and I worked for half a day at sand bag central here in Fargo filling and stacking sandbags. So we are trying to be helpful in as many ways as possible. As a town (Fargo) we made over 3,000,000 sand bags by Friday. The young people at the colleges and locally are probably to best and biggest workforce for the brute labor that has been required. .. However all ages are doing what they can.
I’ve been to a neighbor’s house in the middle of the night to help fix flooding,, etc. lots of little things.
The help and continuity of the community coming together is beyond easy understanding. We are on what’s called “Code Red”,,, a direct call emergency set up for the town (maybe national too.) Code Red along with the local radio stations and police the word gets out. Friday night the golf course area 1.5 blocks north of us was starting to errode the sand bag dike. With in about 20 minutes there must have been 500 – 700 people there in 100 yard long sandbag lines shoring up the dike. We finished in about 1 hour. It’s been like that everywhere here.
A good friend and teacher sent this link of video for CNN [see the video below].
He is a young student in the mass comm department. I had him last year in layout and typography. The story shows some of the basics of what’s up.
Finally, College students meaningfully applying their skills to the real world,
How was it in Bismarck, MFT?
Best wishes to your Uncle, and you, as the "warm spell" hits you.
How was it in Bismarck, MFT?
It's a complex issue, as they all are. Perhaps the city commission will rethink their zoning ideas, often yielding to the idealistic demands of the monetary wealthy in this area who insist developers create generic landscapes that impose on the natural floodplain of the Missouri River, all so the said monetarily wealthy can play the part of a Bismarck noble (emphasis on "play," and as Jacques Barzun reminded us: the idea of "noble" is completely bullshit, as all humans invariably came from the soil).
Meanwhile, those who are truly down and out in the trailer parks are the most neglected. About two hours ago (6pm, CST, this Sunday, 03/29/09) it started snowing heavy again, this being a part of another two day blizzard on the northern plains.
Other than that, everything is just fine. At least the Mandan and Hidatsa natives understood why one doesn't build a permanent village or city along a river floodway.
Geographically the state is large. Demographically, it's small, and this translates into that we're all really tight, keeping in eachother's business and such, protecting homes and being civically minded. Maybe there is something to Marcus Aurelius's Meditations about duty and such, the otherwise tough provincial environment continuously chiseling us into helpful folk — it's all just theory, though. Who knows. Who knows.
More reports as time allows and as they develop.
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