The city of Fargo has a running start on preparations for the next flood: a stockpile of 350,000 sandbags.
The leftover sandbags, shrink-wrapped and stacked on pallets, will be warehoused for later use.
"We plan on storing them for the flood of 2011," Bruce Grubb, the city of Fargo's enterprise director, said Wednesday, quickly adding that he hopes they won't be needed so soon.
Fargo bought "washed sand," that had little moisture, allowing the bags to be stored, Grubb said.
Moorhead's 90,000 surplus sandbags, however, were filled with damp sand, and must be emptied because the bags will deteriorate in time, said Chad Martin, the city operations manager.
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"They don't have much of a shelf life," Martin said. But the sand will be piled for later use, he added.
Meanwhile, although many rural roads remain under water in both Cass and Clay counties, the cities of Fargo and Moorhead are turning their attention to flood cleanup.
"We'll be ready when the river gets down," said Mark Bittner, Fargo city engineer. Protection will remain in place until the Red River, which dipped below 35 feet Wednesday, drops to 30 feet.
Clay County officials met Wednesday with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to outline more than $3 million in flood-related costs in a preliminary tally, said Bryan Green, Clay County's emergency management director.
Of that total, almost $2 million were costs borne by the city of Moorhead, he said.
Overland flooding remains a problem in low-lying rural areas. In Clay County, 102 township and county roads have sections covered by water, Green said.
In Cass County, 27 road locations were flooding. "We'll probably be like this for a week," said Bonnie Johnson, Cass County administrator.
Tributaries, including the Sheyenne River, will keep spilling out of their banks until the Red River drops enough for tributaries to flow more efficiently, she said.
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Two National Guard quick-response teams remain on standby, in Hickson and Harwood, to evacuate people in emergencies, Johnson said.
"We're still very busy," she said. "We have all kinds of little fires out there."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522
