Well, except for the moving things back down stairs, our basement is finally finished. It looks great. I should take some pictures of it. It will feel good finally getting the house back to normal.
The bill was more… ah… depressing. It’s a crummy feeling to think about how good our insurance is, and how the damage still was more than the insurance coverage. Part of that may be because we actually improved some things (like putting up sheet rock and insulation in the spare bedroom, instead of just panelling). But realizing I need to come up with an extra couple of thousand dollars to pay for the damage caused by that damnable flood was a bit of a reality check this afternoon.
Still, I’m glad we got everything put back together. And the basement looks nicer than it did. We’ll also take the opportunity to get rid of some junk we didn’t need (some of which is already gone out of necessity), and maybe rearrange the basement a bit to make it even nicer down there. I still don’t think I can convince Ronni to hang out and watch TV down there (not enough sunshine, see), but it really is a nice part of the house.
It feels like we can finally put the whole mess behind us. Sure I’ve got some cleaning to do, and a lot of trips up and down the stairs, but that’s all stuff I can work on over the next couple of weeks. At least it’s done.
Some funny things happened on the dike outside our house this past week.
Here are some close ups. These signs were first. There was a massive pothole that had opened up down the street. The bottom text of the “Happy Easter” sign reads: “When do we start building the Ark?”
Then this sign went up on the top of the dike. The small print reads: “See North Dakota from here”
And for some reason, we also get pink flamingos.
I post these, in part, because of a story in the paper today.
First, I have to explain something. When I went to volunteer to sandbag that first time way back in March, they gave me a wristband to wear to show that I had signed up. I left it on that whole week so that I wouldn’t have to go back to register as a volunteer. I just washed it in the shower along with everything else.
Then we evacuated. And I left the wristband on. It became something like NHL players who don’t shave during the playoffs. I didn’t want to cut the wristband off until the flood was over.
Here’s a picture of the band on my wrist, looking pretty worn.
That headline in the background gave me the motivation to cut the wristband off this morning. Here’s a closer view of the headline, as well the wristband off for good.
I’m hoping not to have to worry about this stuff again this year (or in years to come, but I’m worrying about the near future for now). And I hope I’m not jinxing us by posting these pictures. But I’m feeling better about things now.
There are signs that the Red River in Fargo-Moorhead may have crested already. They had been predicting the second crest this weekend. The predicted height has steadily decreased over the last few days. Last I had heard, they were thinking it would be a crest under 37 feet. That was definitely good news. If it has crested already, it did so at right about 34 feet. Well into major flood stage, but well under the record.
I don’t want to say anything to jinx it, but things are definitely looking good.
Of course, that means the universe has decided to switch gears to other crises. I won’t go into detail because it would be inappropriate, but I’ve spent ten to twelve hours in meetings this week, all of them about the budget crisis at school. It’s been a very long and stressful week.
I mention this only by way of explanation for why I haven’t been updating much this week. There is a lot going on, and none of it is appropriate for my blog. I’m hoping to get back to a regular posting schedule, though. I promise.
Dike building proceeded throughout the night outside my home. The trucks didn’t keep me awake, but I heard them whenever I did wake up (as I do periodically throughout the night lately). So when I went outside today, I wasn’t surprised at the amount of progress that had been made. Where yesterday there had been a street, today there was clay.
You may remember this perspective from weeks ago when I took a picture of the sandbagging operation down the street from us. This is the same street. There used to be mounds of sand. Now there is a continuous mound of clay. Just past the far end of that is where I had been taking pictures of the river. The river is still there. But I won’t be taking pictures for awhile. It is illegal to walk on the dikes. And I wouldn’t do it anyway.
It is unnerving having your home so close to the contingency dike that you can see it from your front window.
And there is something like guilt attached to it, as well. I see my neighbors, many of them with sandbag dikes in their backyards, on the wrong side of that dike. Those neighbors were the ones who patrolled their sandbags and kept the river out of our neighborhood. And now, even with the lower crest projection, and the sandbag dikes inspected and still in place… those neighbors must still be feeling more unnerved than I.
Today is a brighter day than yesterday, with a lower crest projection hanging over us. But the dike is a reminder that we are not done yet.
All evening I’ve been listening to the sound of heavy equipment working just down the street. They are building a contingency dike in my neighborhood. If the primary dike system fails (largely sandbags in people’s backyards), then this contingency dike will protect much of the city.
Our house is on the “right” side of the contingency dike. For us, it will be another layer of protection from the river. And yet, I can’t help but feel for my neighbors on the “wrong” side of this dike. They still have the protection of the primary dike system that protected the city from the first crest. But I know it must be unnerving to watch a dike go up right in front of your house and know that it won’t protect you.
There was supposed to be another contingency dike going up several blocks east of our house. We would be on the “wrong” side of that dike. It would protect a large area of the city from the river if it broke through the first two dikes. For now, though, they have put constructing that dike on hold.
The reason for the delay in this third dike is actually a bright spot. The National Weather Service has put out a new crest forecast. They are now predicting a second crest between April 16th and 18th. The crest is predicted to be between 38 and 40 feet. That level still could rival the level of the 1997 flood. But if they are right, it will be lower than the crest a week and a half ago.
Suddenly, things seem a little less ominous than the have the last several days. We are by no means out of the woods, but 38 to 40 feet is a far cry from 41 to 43 feet, which seemed all but a certainty last Friday. So while it’s too early to celebrate, there is a glimmer of hope to be had.
I really hoped I was going to be able to start posting about other things. I actually listened to part of the news today for the first time and heard stories about other parts of the country and the world. It almost felt like things were going to slowly get back to normal.
It was not to be, however. Around eleven-thirty this morning, the National Weather Service released its forecast for the the Red River. They have said there is a 75 percent chance of a second crest reaching 41 feet and a 25 percent chance that a second crest could reach 42.8 feet. Both of those numbers are above the crest this past Saturday. The second crest is predicted in the second half of April, probably between the 15th and the 22nd.
It just makes me want to cry.
Things could change, I suppose. If we get a dry spell. If the melt goes slower than predicted. It’s possible things change. It’s possible the National Weather Service’s prediction will turn out to be wrong.
But thinking about another record crest this year just feels like too much.
It’s a little strange; after all, our library and office are bursting at the seams with junk, and we have a door blocking access to the basement from the kitchen. But it feels good to be back in our own house again. And the cats, who did okay in the hotel rooms, seem happy as well.
The basement is almost unrecognizable. I should take more footage tomorrow, just so I can show people what it looks like. They have everything ripped out. They may have even finished cutting the sheet rock out before they left today. They have sprayed much of it down and mostly we just have to wait for it to dry.
As we were checking out of the hotel today, we passed by someone who lived near the Wild Rice river (one of the tributaries that feeds into the Red River). We chatted briefly (we noticed his dog in his room), and he told us that he had water on three levels of his house. And that really puts things into perspective.
We have suffered a loss. And we certainly suffered some mental anguish in all of this. But we have come out okay. Not as well as many, but much better than others. And we are thankful for that. And sorry for our neighbors who lost so much more.
As I was walking up to the river to take pictures on Tuesday, I noticed some movement on the snow field between me and the river. Looking closer, I saw that it was a little mouse, running across the snow. Before I could get my camera out, it had disappeared into a bush. I hoped, with all of the flooding, that the mouse would be okay. I wondered if its home had been destroyed, too.
This was an odd and difficult experience. It has been draining, and we are exhausted. It’s possible, too, that it’s not over, as the river is predicted to crest again in a couple of weeks. We simply find ourselves hoping that the snow melts slowly enough that the crest is in the 37 foot range.
Despite the difficulties we faced, we did find some good in all of this. We got to know our neighbors better. We came together as a community in ways that are too infrequent, and too often require tragedy to happen. And Ronni and I began to feel even more strongly that we want to simplify our lives some. We don’t need all the junk that was in the basement. So even some of the things that weren’t ruined may have to go at some point.
It has been an experience we are not soon likely to forget. We also hope not to have to relive it. But that’s a worry for the future. For now, I simply hope that this is the last post I get to tag “Flood 09.” It must be time to talk about other things.
The winter storm ended after dumping nearly a foot of snow on the area. What effect this storm will have on the possibility of the second crest on the Red River remains to be seen. It depends on how fast it melts. Slower is much better. The river currently is below 37 feet, which is a good place for it to be. Lower would be even better (since flood stage is 18 feet). The lower it gets before it starts rising again the better. We can hope.
As for today, I got back to some other mundane parts of my life as I went to an orthodontist appointment. Now, instead of worrying about my house, I’m focused on the pain in my mouth. I hate getting my braces adjusted. I can’t eat normally for a week or more.
They also started cleaning our house. We’ve got a ways to go, but it feels like we’re headed in the right direction. As long as the river keeps going down, and as long as house gets cleaner, we’re doing okay.
No April Fool’s Day joke this year. I just didn’t have the energy for it, nor did it seem appropriate. I hope you’re not all disappointed.
I arranged for an inspection from the city. Since I had to brave the winter storm to get to the house, I also had the my colleague’s husband meet me at the house to look over the damage as well.
Despite the nasty conditions outside, I got to the house safely and just in time to meet the inspector. He wants us to take out the carpet (no kidding) and at least one of the electric baseboard heaters. He also wants us to take out the sheet rock and insulation up to sixteen inches. The good news was that he said we could move back into the upstairs.
The contractor looked things over and thought he could get to work right away, as soon as we get a building permit from the city. That will probably happen tomorrow morning.
I also had the company that installed our boiler this summer come over and inspect it. We needed the okay to have the gas turned back on. He okayed it and said that the hot water heater looked okay, as well.
So then I called the gas company and they turned the gas back on and got the boiler lit. The house was beginning to heat up before I left. And the contractor suggested he would have a lot of the real mess in the basement out pretty quickly.
The building permit has to wait until tomorrow (the people in the building codes office were in a meeting when I stopped by). But it looks like we’ll probably move back on Thursday.
Here’s the scene from the river today. This is the first chance I’ve had to get back, and the river had dropped to just under 38 feet by this point.
Here’s another scene of the river from a few yards downstream. I’m standing on a neighbor’s deck (with permission). I know there’s little context, but it says something that you can’t see the Fargo side of the river.
For those that really want to see some of the evidence of damage in our basement, I managed to take this video with my digital camera. I don’t know how many will be interested, but here it is.
We’re still trying to figure out how to get back into something resembling a normal routine. Today I went to a meeting on campus between the President and the union leadership. We’re trying to figure out how to get school back to normal, too.
After the meeting, I picked up Ronni and I we headed to the house. Much of the water in the basement has receded. But I didn’t go down today. I didn’t want to see the whole disaster again. We grabbed a few things. I called to try to have our gas turned back on, but I was told they wouldn’t do it until the boiler was inspected. I also managed to find and install the door that used to separate the kitchen from the basement.
When we got back to the hotel room, I called our insurance company again. I got the impression they are pretty busy. The claim adjuster will be getting in touch with us in the next couple of days, I was told. But we didn’t have to wait if we wanted to get someone in there to clean it up.
Meanwhile, a winter storm has kicked up in the region. We could get around a foot of snow over the next 24 to 36 hours. As though we don’t have enough to deal with.
So we got back to the hotel before the roads got too bad. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and made plans to hang out in the room.
Just before six, we got a message that the evacuation order was lifted in our neighborhood. Now we need to get a city inspector in there to assess our damages. But the inspector’s office was already closed for the day. So that’s the first order of business tomorrow.
Additionally, one of my colleague’s husband is a contractor. She talked to him about putting us at the top of his list to clean up our basement. He called us to see when he could get in the house. Assuming I can get there through the storm tomorrow, he could start then. It might have to wait a day or two, though. We’ll see how bad the roads are.
So there is a chance we might get somewhere soon. Maybe even tomorrow. For now, we’re just chomping at the bit, wishing we could get back in our house.
The good news is that the river is down over two feet from its crest. Everyone is hoping that it keeps going in that direction, even with the additional precipitation.
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