Flooding consumes areas

Stearns County was just one of the 37 counties in Minnesota with a flood warning or advisory as declared by the National Weather Service (NWS) on Thursday.

The threat of flooding was a result of the heavy rains that began two weekends ago, March 21-22. The county previously had been told by the NWS that it would be free of any threat of flooding, but after the weekend of rain, the NWS changed their forecast.

As a result, the Emergency Operations Center was partially activated by Stearns County.

The Stearns County Emergency Management team held a meeting with surrounding communities along the Mississippi River and the Sauk River to develop strategies to prepare for the possible flooding.

The county had nearly 100 volunteers between Stearns and Benton Counties helping with the flood effort, with others lined up if the help was needed.

"Over the course of the last three days, we've provided sandbags to about 30 property owners. We do know that some property owners have gotten their own sandbags, but we do not know how many," said Marvin Klug, Stearns County emergency management director.

The last of the sandbagging took place Thursday evening along the Sauk River in Waite Park.

The Sauk River crested at seven feet on Friday night and is now expected to lower.

"The threat to the communities all through Stearns County and the cities of Saint Cloud and Waite Park is pretty much over," Klug said.

The Red River Valley, Fargo and Moorhead in particular, have experienced flooding even worse. The Red River finally crested Friday night at nearly 41 feet, surpassing the previous record of 40.1 feet in 1897.

The seriously high water levels resulted in many evacuations along the Red River in places such as Oslo, Fargo, and Moorhead.

SCSU alumni, Ananda Gurung was one of the many ordered to evacuate the Moorhead area. "I try not to worry about the flood, but it's hard not to when you see people streaming out of Fargo, and you see military Humvees on the roads. I evacuated my apartment last night, and I wonder now when I will be able to get back to my place."

Organizations including the Red Cross and the National Guard have been working hard all along the Red River Valley by taking care of the volunteers and helping communities evacuate.

Volunteers have been highly appreciated during these natural disasters. For more information on volunteering please call 1-800-543-7709.

For information on what to do before, during, and after a flood, visit the Minnesota Homeland Security and Management website: http://www.hsem.state.mn.us/HSem_view_Article.asp?docid=655