Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Floodwaters Impacted Rural Areas the Most

The floodwaters are slowly receding in Eastern part of North Dakota and in the Red River Valley. I recently talked to a retired couple in church, who were there for the first time in over a month. Why? Because they couldn't get out of their rural housing development, where they had lived for many years, except by boat. The four roads out had been inundated by flood waters and even washed out a major road. So one neighbor had served as motorboat mailman for weeks, going and getting everyone's mail and delivering it the the homes in the development each day. He and others also ran errands and bought groceries to their neighbors, etc.

This is the third year in a row that the Red River area has experienced several flooding. Each year has impacted the area differently. This year, the rural areas were hit especially hard with overland flooding affecting thousands of acres and hundreds rural developments and farm homes.

We're all pleased to get a reprieve for some months, but with ground water levels very high and a seeming wet cycle we wonder what the future holds.

Howard Barlow, NRS, Fargo

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