(no subject)
The floods are up again in the ND area. What does that have to do with me here in CA? I lived at Grand Forks AFB, ND 12 yrs ago during the historic flood of '97. Was it April...? Yep, April 18 and 19, 1997, the Red River of the North broke through the dikes in Grand Forks, ND and East Grand Forks, MN and flooded the towns.
# Flood crest: 54.4 feet. (Flood stage: 28 feet)
# Water flow: 140,000 cubic feet/second. (780 is normal)
# 46,000 people evacuated in Grand Forks (90% of population)
# 8600 homes with damage (75% of total) and 1616 apartments damaged (28% of total)
# Almost two billion dollars in damage (Grand Forks and East Grand Forks)
# 60,000 tons of debris removed.
# 13 days without running water, 23 days without drinkable water.
While I had no damage to my home at all, watching all this unfold on local TV was very shocking.
Just a week or two before the flood, there was a huge ice storm that was closely followed by a blizzard. Power was off at the base for almost 3 days. Water was off for part of that time when the lift stations were down. Hubby was out in the missile field for something like 5 days. The day he got back, we were making the trip to town to get our truck fixed after being rear-ended by a Fed Ex truck. The truck hit a patch of black ice, a huge gust of wind came broadside and we were spun into the center median, flung over and nearly flipped onto the roof. So, our only means of transportation was totaled.
While trying to dig ourselves out of that mess, the flood hit. Again, Hubby was out in the missile field. It's pretty horrible watching the town you live closest to, the place you go to eat, shop, see movies, etc on the national news. The one station in town that stayed open to broadcast during this time had to be sandbagged shut. No one could get in or out for awhile, and this was with no running water, so the anchor ppl looked pretty grotty.
Watching these ND and MN people fight tooth and nail to save their homes and cities filled me with admiration. When everything failed, they opened their hearts and homes to the displaced homeless. They opened a place for not just people, they accepted pets and livestock as well. (Red Cross and Salvation Army shelters did not accept pets) The radio and TV were full of announcements of offers of help and home. Those did my heart good when I wasn't crying my eyes out seeing the whole of Downtown GF under 4' of water and on fire.
About June of that year, I started having my first panic attacks. That whole flood thing was 20 miles away, and did not take my home or possessions from me, but it did add quite a level of stress to my feeling of well-being. I was already out of my element in living in such a strange environment, and then having what was familiar to me taken away really fucked me up. I wish I'd had sedatives back then.
Seeing the new pics of flooding, sandbag making, sandbag central, flood markers and all has sent me into a sort of flashback to 12 yrs ago. It seems just like yesterday when Mayor Pat Owens was on TV crying over the loss of her dad's home and then her own. Such a strong lady and then seeing her reduced to tears cut me to the quick. I realized shit was pretty awful about then. Watching the news and reading the GF Herald online has stirred a bit of panic in my chest. But I can't stop watching.
This is the GF Flood Memorial as photographed by Erin May. It has a wrought iron fence encircling it and benches against the fence for people to rest upon and watch the river or look at the monument. Can you see any chairs? Yeah, no. The '97 flood reached to just below the pointed top of the monument (you can barely see 1997 up there). This year's flood is supposed to be nearly that high.
Gah.
# Flood crest: 54.4 feet. (Flood stage: 28 feet)
# Water flow: 140,000 cubic feet/second. (780 is normal)
# 46,000 people evacuated in Grand Forks (90% of population)
# 8600 homes with damage (75% of total) and 1616 apartments damaged (28% of total)
# Almost two billion dollars in damage (Grand Forks and East Grand Forks)
# 60,000 tons of debris removed.
# 13 days without running water, 23 days without drinkable water.
While I had no damage to my home at all, watching all this unfold on local TV was very shocking.
Just a week or two before the flood, there was a huge ice storm that was closely followed by a blizzard. Power was off at the base for almost 3 days. Water was off for part of that time when the lift stations were down. Hubby was out in the missile field for something like 5 days. The day he got back, we were making the trip to town to get our truck fixed after being rear-ended by a Fed Ex truck. The truck hit a patch of black ice, a huge gust of wind came broadside and we were spun into the center median, flung over and nearly flipped onto the roof. So, our only means of transportation was totaled.
While trying to dig ourselves out of that mess, the flood hit. Again, Hubby was out in the missile field. It's pretty horrible watching the town you live closest to, the place you go to eat, shop, see movies, etc on the national news. The one station in town that stayed open to broadcast during this time had to be sandbagged shut. No one could get in or out for awhile, and this was with no running water, so the anchor ppl looked pretty grotty.
Watching these ND and MN people fight tooth and nail to save their homes and cities filled me with admiration. When everything failed, they opened their hearts and homes to the displaced homeless. They opened a place for not just people, they accepted pets and livestock as well. (Red Cross and Salvation Army shelters did not accept pets) The radio and TV were full of announcements of offers of help and home. Those did my heart good when I wasn't crying my eyes out seeing the whole of Downtown GF under 4' of water and on fire.
About June of that year, I started having my first panic attacks. That whole flood thing was 20 miles away, and did not take my home or possessions from me, but it did add quite a level of stress to my feeling of well-being. I was already out of my element in living in such a strange environment, and then having what was familiar to me taken away really fucked me up. I wish I'd had sedatives back then.
Seeing the new pics of flooding, sandbag making, sandbag central, flood markers and all has sent me into a sort of flashback to 12 yrs ago. It seems just like yesterday when Mayor Pat Owens was on TV crying over the loss of her dad's home and then her own. Such a strong lady and then seeing her reduced to tears cut me to the quick. I realized shit was pretty awful about then. Watching the news and reading the GF Herald online has stirred a bit of panic in my chest. But I can't stop watching.
This is the GF Flood Memorial as photographed by Erin May. It has a wrought iron fence encircling it and benches against the fence for people to rest upon and watch the river or look at the monument. Can you see any chairs? Yeah, no. The '97 flood reached to just below the pointed top of the monument (you can barely see 1997 up there). This year's flood is supposed to be nearly that high.
Gah.