Dear friends...Our city has been fighting a flood for over 2 months and 4 weeks ago, there was an evacuation of many people living in the valley. They were out of their homes for 3 or 4 days and things looked better. This week we were hit with devastating news...that our city was going to be under massive amounts of water due to water coming down from Canada. They were stopping work on the dikes as they couldn't be raised enough for that amount of water and working on saving infrastructure. That was Monday at about noon and evacuations began. Once again, I helped friends evacuate and it is so gut wrenching. They say the homes and businesses will be destroyed because of the force of the water and the amount. Today we were hit with more bad news. They are saying there will be an additional 3-4 feet on top of the already massive amounts of water. I can't stand it. This news today called for additional evacuating beyond the first evacuation map. I will be able to walk a block and a half down my hill and see water. It is already coming over the dikes in many areas of the city and as of 3 AM, the surge starts and it will quickly flood to upwards of 19 feet by the crest on Saturday and then that crest will stay at that for a week or more. Right now, the river level has dropped, which means that the water is going into the city. Minot consists of a north hill, a south hill, and the valley in between them. With the valley flooded and access from one hill to the other may become impossible, and split the city in two. I live on the wrong side of town. Our grocery stores are evacuated and flooding...my bank is flooding...the hospital is on the south side and the mall is on south hill and many businesses are on South Hill. It is very likely that the sewer system, the water and the power will fail for us on the hills and also sewer back up is a worry. This just gets more and more devastating. There are 700 National Guard here and also help from the Minot Air Base. I am so overwhelmed by how my friends, and all the other people here felt as they left their homes, knowing they would probably not be there to come back to. The sirens sounded here about 1 PM on Wednesday, which told anyone in the evacuation zone to leave immediatly. What an eerie sound...and scary. There is 24 live coverage by our KX news team. They are wonderful and most the guys on there are all losing their homes, but yet they sit there day and night keeping us informed. If you'd like to see pictures and hear live news, or see live web cams as the flood comes in, just go here:
KX News Minot - TV Network - Minot, ND | Facebook Along the side, you can click on different things to see. You may have to "Like" it...not sure, but very informative. Live coverage is an option and that gives all the pertinent info.
Other than some tears shed throughout the week, tonight I just broke down and cried my eyes out. This is so heartbreaking...so scary. To know that we stand to lose 25-40% of our city. Even though they have said this is going to happen, I guess I've been in denial and hoping that it wouldn't. Thanks for listening and please pray for the City of Minot and the poor people displaced from their homes and businesses.