Flood Blog 2009

Flooding came early in March 2009.  It had been a winter of record snow fall, record cold, and North Dakota Wing, CAP began preparations early as they worked with the Emergency Operations Center in Bismarck, Fargo and other areas to show officials just what North Dakota Wing, CAP could bring to the fight.  Wing Conference came early this year and the Wing came together to celebrate the accomplishments of 2008 and begin preparation for flooding.  Squadrons departed from their home units to news reports that the spring thaw would be earlier than expected.  Reports came in that the Red River in Fargo could exceed the 1997 record level of 38.6 feet and crest closer to 42 feet.  the Missouri river was experiencing ice jams and raising the level.  Small rivers all across North Dakota began to swell.  Wing Conference contained an ominous tone as generals and public officials came to talk about the impending flood.  Wing Conference concluded with units returning home to begin preparations.  No one could have guessed that they would only have one more day to prepare.

Colonel Karl Altenburg activated the entire wing for emergency response on Sunday, 22 Mar 09 and put out a call to other wings for additional support.  The Fargo ICP was opened the next morning and Minnesota Wing responded in force sending close to 75 volunteers per day, supplementing the 30 volunteers arriving from ND Wing.  Ground missions with over 75 personnel were dispatched for the next 4 days as thousands of reports came in from people asking for help.  Teams worked day and night, building dikes, filling sandbags, and determining how to provide assistance the following day.  The wing helped at members homes, homes of strangers, and most notably, at the KFGO news towers and radio stations to make sure information could get out to the public.  Teams had to battle rain, snow, mud and a lack of sleep as they built and tossed sandbags.  It was incredible to see cadets and officers return from their sorties covered in mud and more tired than they have ever been when suddenly a new call for help would come in and no one gave up.  They would return to the field and work until they could not lift another sandbag.  These people came from hundreds of miles away to help

The first few days of the flood fight were tough on aircrews as weather played a significant impact and crews sat helplessly on the ground waiting to get in the air.  Several airborne sorties were flown and the images of swollen rivers and ice dams came in from across the state.  Pilots, observers and scanners returned from their few sorties to publish their pictures and that is when the extent of the devastation came true.  Could the river rise past 42 feet in Fargo, as was now reported.

Thursday, 26 Mar 09 marked the 4th day of heavy operations.  Teams were responding to sandbagging calls and preparing to work 24 hour shifts as the 75 members rotated watch.  The command staff rotated duty positions when word came down that the Fargo Command post needed to be relocated due to the river level surpassing 40 feet.  Mission Staff personnel began the process of packing the base and moving equipment and vehicles to Casselton, ND.  MN Wing departed for their home bases at 2300 that evening and Ground Operations came to an end as the National Guard and local citizens began watching their pumps, dikes and homes- hoping for a river crest.

Casselton Base came on-line shortly before 0800 on 27 Mar 09 and air operations began in earnest.  SD Wing dispatched a flight crew and an airplane to support the operation.  Appx 18 sorties were launched from Casselton base over the next 3 days.  The ICP also coordinated with several officials manning air operations out of Casselton.  Several Army National Guard Helicopters landed at the airport and worked with CAP members at base.  The River Crested on Saturday night and the dikes held.  Weather reports began to come in that a blizzard was then approaching Fargo, ND.  Sunday came with several flights and then a relocation mission to move the planes back to Fargo to protect them from the storm.  Casselton base was closed at 1430 that afternoon.  The blizzard dumped over 14 inches of snow on the area.

Operations continued to happen all over the wing as wing members manned the Emergency Operations Center in Bismarck, assisted with flood efforts in Beulah, ND, sand bagged in Grand forks and truly showed just what North Dakota Wing, CAP could accomplish.  There are hundreds of stories about how CAP helped in the emergencies.  As of 1 Apr 09, mission totals included 65+ hours of flight time and well over 1,000 volunteer hours put in between ND, SD and MN Wing.  Operations were planned to continue state wide with additional Mission Staff and crews coming in from SD and MN Wing.  The rivers had begun to recede, but the new layer of snow has the potential to bring rivers back up.  ND Wing stands ever ready to respond.