Flood meeting turnout high in Moorhead

Hundreds of Moorhead residents packed into a meeting hall Tuesday evening to hear about the city's plan for fighting a spring flood.

City Engineer Bob Zimmerman said the strategy will largely be a repeat of the city's approach to the 2010 flood "with a few twists."

The city set up eight neighborhood zones last year to coordinate things such as sandbagging homes, and that blueprint will be used again this year.

Zimmerman said Moorhead will start filling sandbags Monday, with an initial goal of 1 million.

Volunteers needed

While that phase of sandbagging will be handled by paid workers, Zimmerman said many volunteers will be needed starting Tuesday to put filled sandbags onto pallets for distribution into neighborhoods.

That pallet loading will happen at a storage facility at 2419 12th Ave. S. Zimmerman said volunteers are invited to show up directly at the site to help.

When it comes to building sandbag dikes, Zimmerman said a volunteer center will be set up at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

From there, buses and vans will take people to and from sandbagging locations around Moorhead.

Teamwork

Zimmerman said a million sandbags should be enough to protect vulnerable homes to a flood stage of 40 feet, with 2 extra feet of freeboard for insurance.

If more sandbags are needed, another million could be produced in about four days, he said.

If a worst-case scenario develops and it appears the river is heading for 42 feet, Zimmerman said about 290 homes would need sandbags.

"We can't deliver (sandbags) to 290 people at the same time," Zimmerman said, and he asked those at Tuesday's meeting to consider neighborhood plans that would identify ahead of time which homes would get bags first.

He suggested neighbors could team up and work progressively to ensure all homes get protected, a process the city is calling the pacesetter concept.

"The more you group together, the more effectively we can provide service," Zimmerman said.

Neighborly concern

Virgil Kohler, a resident of Moorhead for more than 25 years, said after the meeting that he was impressed with the city's planning.

With a home on relatively high ground, Kohler said he isn't too anxious about a possible flood.

"I just like to know what's going on and find out what everyone else is going through, how I can help," said Kohler, adding that in past floods he has pitched in to help fill sandbags.

Gordon and Loretta Swanson said they attended Tuesday's meeting to find out how improvements made since the 2009 flood might affect what they would need to do if high water threatens.

While they have helped others in past flood fights, their own home is relatively safe, they said.

"The whole town would have to flood for us to flood, because we're at the same elevation as Moorhead State and they're, like, the highest point in Moorhead," Loretta Swanson said.

If you go

What: A second Moorhead flood zone meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead. Flood zones 5-8, located south of 12th Avenue South, will be covered.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555