Fargo Residents Come Together to Thwart Disaster

National Guardsmen and volunteers sandbag the gymnasium on the campus of the Oak Grove Lutheran School following a break in the levee on the campus March 29 in Fargo, North Dakota. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Despite a coming storm expected to bring 10 to 14 inches of snow by the end of Tuesday, hopes remain high among residents of Fargo, North Dakota.

According to the Fargo pubic information office, alerts were lowered “high alert” to “alert” Monday morning.

Sergent Ross Renner from the Fargo police station explained that currently residents are in a “guarded optimism stage,” yet the potential impact of the flood was reduced thanks to the cooperation of locals with the local and federal relief groups.

“We’ve had fantastic community response,” Renner said in a phone interview Monday afternoon

“Disasters in the aspect of a flood are similar to something we go through every winter, but certainly on a much smaller scale. We have snow storms that will shut the area down and the city down for days. People are used to dealing with the weather here. Certainly this flood is much more than we’re used to, but people are able to cope with it,” Renner said.

He added that the disaster has been bitter-sweet as the community has joined together to avert what the flood could have brought.

“Any time you have a group of people that come together to accomplish a large goal like this, it’s going to bring people together, and of course the community has always been one that’s very supportive of each-other to begin with. We don’t have neighbors here, for the most part, that turn on each-other. It doesn’t happen,” he said.

Still, there have been some who’ve been forced to abandon their homes, yet spirits remain high.

Renner said that once the flood has completely dwindled, he sees locals coming out to help those whose homes were lost. Such acts aren’t uncommon to the area.

“There’s a city just north of here that had a tornado go through last year and the response to that was also very significant,” Renner said. “There were people from everywhere who came to help clean up and rebuild homes.”

“The people in this area are generally very cooperative with each-other, not just in Fargo but in the whole area,” he said.

The river level has been dropping eight-tenths of a foot daily, yet on Monday it was still at 39.2 feet—the flood level is 18 feet. The city mayor stated that they will not breathe a sigh of relief until the river drops below 36 feet, said Robyn Litke, assistant public information officer from the city of Fargo in a phone interview.

A 12 mile-long dike holds back the waters, while other dikes within the town act as backups in case the outer wall gives. Residents and officials all take the initiative to watch for leaks in the dike, which is holding back overhead flood waters.

Litke said that people still maintain an upbeat and positive air. “That really is the general consensus of the majority of citizens,” she said.

The cooperation among the residents, volunteers, and relief workers in the area also received attention from President Barack Obama, who dedicated his weekly address, Saturday to the people facing the floods.

“In the face of an incredible challenge the people in these communities have rallied in support of one-another and their service isn’t just inspirational, it’s integral to our response,” Obama said. “It’s also a reminder of what we can achieve when Americans come together to serve their communities.”

“The truth is we’re all in this together, as neighbors and as fellow citizens,” Obama said.

Still, with the coming snowstorm, the threat hasn’t completely subsided.

“It had just begun to snow in the last hour and now it’s snowing heavily,” said Ed Conley, FEMA representative for Fargo during a phone interview 3 p.m. Monday.

According to Conley, the biggest concern with the coming snow storm is waves that could add pressure to the dikes that are holding back the waters of the Red River, and a potential rush of water that could effect towns and cities downstream.

“It’s a big issue,” he said. “We’ve just got to be aware of it and factor it in.”