Red River Valley of the North Flood, 2009: March 26: Need Help? Gather Neighbors

"Fargo uses social networks to fight floodwaters"

"FARGO, N.D. (AP) — When Kevin Tobosa got word Thursday that a friend needed help building a sandbag dike, he immediately posted a status update on his Facebook page: 'Heading to 2825 Lilac Lane in North Fargo — needs to be raised another 2 feet.'..."

I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country, but in 'backwaters' like Fargo, North Dakota, people are generally willing to help out. The Associated Press did a pretty good job, writing about a 4,550-and-growing Facebook group that was getting together in the real world, to help build dikes - fast.

My daughter called me a few minutes ago: she had questions about taxes (yikes! it's that time again), and mentioned that she felt guilty about not going to Fargo withe the other volunteers from Alexandria, Minnesota. That's a little over a hundred miles down the road from Fargo-Moorhead. She'd reasoned that, given her physical strength, she'd get in the way more than help.

She may be right: but what struck me was how many people were converging on Fargo-Moorhead right now.

"Midwest Braces for Severe Flooding"
WGRZ (March 26, 2009)

"The race against time and raging flood waters continues across the upper Midwest right now. Teams of volunteers, along with National Guard troops, are working around the clock, preparing for what could be record flood levels...."

"...Ryan Hoffman of the Fargo National Guard says 'we asked for volunteers and everybody pretty much just showed up within 24 hours.'

"Some, including these students from Alexandria, Minnesota, traveling hundreds of miles to put in a days work.

"Brent Nelson, the assistant principal at Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Minnesota, says "we had an announcement that if they wanted to come today, they'd be more than welcome to com. We brought 50 students up to help with the flooding.'

"And so side-by-side, the volunteers and those who live in the flood zone work around the clock but the rain continues to fall and the snow continues to melt up-river and like the water level, concern here is still rising...."

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List of posts about this flood:

• "Red River Valley of the North Flood, 2009"