:: Events ::

Life in the Upper Midwest

Flood 2006
by Brady Lewis

With the flooding season in the Upper Midwest coming to an end, it dawns on us that this year was much worse than most. 

Flooding is a common thing in this area, as we have a ton of water after all the snow melts.  This causes the river to take up way too much, and so it overflows.  All of this is normal for us.  Certain roads in town are simply unusable for two months each year.  And while this year wasn't a catastrophe as we have had in years past, it came very, very close.

Here are the pictures I acquired around town.

Remember Fargo X-Treme Sledding?  Well, here is what that hill looked like during the flooding season:

As for Trollwood Park, well....

Bike paths also fell victim to the waters, which unfortunately means more bikers on the streets.

Those wooden stakes in the ground look familiar.  Almost like a certain cell phone company...

And of course there is that portion of Elm Street that is unusable for two months.

Perhaps the best picture I have is the most telling of how close it got.  This is the metal dike behind the VA Hospital.  I was able to get this picture before security told me to get out of there. 

That's it for this edition of LUM.  The flooding season is over for 2006.  Our basements are safe for another year.