Flooding Along the Red River

Melissa's post at Kitchen Table brings back some memories for me. You see, I grew up in northwestern Minnesota, about an hour east of Grand Forks, North Dakota and about an hour and a half north and east of Fargo. Flooding happens sometimes along the Red River sometimes, and it was just as bad in 1997. That year, the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Minnesota (the two cities on either side of the Red River) were almost wiped out by the flooding that year. Students from my local high school took time off of school to volunteer filling and stacking sandbags to hold back the rising river. In the end, many people lost their homes, destroyed by flood damage. Some, like my aunt and cousins that lived there, left for good. Others stayed to rebuild. Thanks to a combination of support and public funding, the cities were able to rebuild, bigger than before.

It's hard to say what might happen in Fargo this year. Fargo is a bigger city than Grand Forks. I remember that in 1997, holding back the river seemed a nearly impossible task. I, like Melissa, have my heart with those in Fargo.