The Fargo area is now experiencing the worst flooding ever recorded.

The latest river stage now stands at 40.78′ (9:15 p.m. CDT, Friday)…and it’s still rising. The record was 40.1′ set back in 1897. Now the question is…how high will it go? Forecasters are saying it could crest as high as 43′. A scary thought, considering that, according to officials, Fargo’s main dike protects the city to 43′.

The Red River at East Grand Forks is on track to crest close to an all-time record flood stage as well…although it’s (right now) looking like it will come up a bit short, probably some relief for weary residents. The stage was 48.14′ (9:30 p.m. CDT Friday) and it’s forecasted to crest around 52′. The record stage is 54.4′ in 1997.

If you’re curious if that means there’s a wall of water close to 42′ in Fargo…not quite. Read this for the AP wire:

CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — A Red River crest of 43 feet at Fargo, N.D., doesn’t mean the river will be 43 feet deep.
   And dikes built to protect the city to 43 feet aren’t 43 feet high.
   The numbers hydrologists use to measure river levels and flood stages and to predict crest levels are just reference points. Diane Cooper, a National Weather Service hydrologist, says they often put the zero point below the river bed.
   So when officials say Fargo’s dikes are good to 43 feet, it just means they’re at the same height the river would be when it reaches the 43-foot mark at the gauge in Fargo.
   Cooper also says you can’t compare the numbers from one river gauge to another. For example, the Red River was measured at 41 feet in Fargo on Friday afternoon and 48 feet downstream in Grand Forks. That doesn’t mean the water’s deeper in Grand Forks.

We’ll be continuing to follow this…

Posted under Natural Disaster

Yesterday, Steph posted some very useful links for you to find information on rising Red River levels.

Another useful tool for regular updates on the flood is twitter. Search out #fargoflood and #flood09 on twitter and you’ll get some firsthand perspectives from folks on the spot and many various links to photos and information regarding this year’s flood…one that is looking to be record-setting.

You can also follow Steph and I on twitter. Just click on the links on the left sidebar of this blog.

Posted under Natural Disaster

We’re passing along some links to follow the flood stages on the Red River. Both of the following links come from the North Central River Forecast Center.

This is one solely for the Red River Valley area. By clicking on the dots, you can see the hydrograph for a certain location, along with the current river stage, the forecasted stage, and timeline: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=fgf

This is more of a wider view of the north central US, and a good way to keep tabs on our local rivers, too. Operates the same as the above. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ncrfc/ You’ll also be able to see that rivers in central Minnesota are nearing flood stage. While it’s not as grave of a situation as the one to the north and west, it’s still a big deal for folks in that area.

We had some local volunteers head to North Dakota Monday morning to help feed the flood volunteers. We’re told more are on stand-by and will probably go, but first everything needs to be assessed to see how many will be needed. I’ll have more on their efforts and the overall flooding Monday night on the NewsCenter at 5 and 6.

Posted under KTTC