FARGO-High winds made for a huge mess in Fargo-Moorhead on Tuesday, March 7.
Winds were whipping at 40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. It was so windy Fargo closed its in-town landfill, but that still didn't prevent trash from soaring around town.
Trash found it's way into some strange places: stuck to fences, wrapped around poles, even impaled by street signs.
It was no ordinary breeze. In neighborhoods where it was trash day, residential roads looked more like battlefields.
"I came home on my lunch break to track down my garbage can and figure out where it went, so that's what I'll be doing now," said Shannon Blomker of West Fargo.
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The wind waved a victory flag as neighbors struggled to tell which hurled bin was theirs. "I fIgured I'd just grab one of those (random ones)," Blomker said.
Blomker added: "I was driving down over there and some people have lawn ornaments and decorations that are just destroyed, so it's really too bad."
Garbage was still collected Tuesday, though it took much longer. West Fargo city officials said garbage haulers have to place any tipped bins upright before collecting. If you can't find your bin, the city asks you call Public Works to discuss options.
Flying garbage wasn't the only problem. Traveling on open-road highways was tricky, especially for high-profile vehicles. The North Dakota State Patrol asked drivers to stay off the highways if they could. In the patrol's northeast division, at least five vehicles tipped over.
"It's such a flat, flat state that wind is going to rip through different areas," Capt. Bryan Niewind said.
