Civil Air Patrol members pitch in filling and positioning sandbags to counter Red River flooding in the Fargo, N.D., area in March 2009.
Photo by Lt. Col. Troy Krabbenhoft
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS -- With another potentially massive flood looming in North Dakota’s Red River Valley and other Midwestern states, members of Civil Air Patrol’s North Central Region are standing ready.
Melting snow from larger-than-normal amounts of snowfall this winter is expected to flood the Red River Valley in the weeks ahead. Forecasters predict it may be worse this year than last, which is bad news for Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn. Both cities withstood massive flooding a year ago, with the Red River, which flows through them, reaching a record 40.84 feet in Fargo.
National Weather Service hydrologists cite a 98 percent probability of major flooding in Fargo and Moorhead and other cities throughout the Midwest this spring, as snow melts and rivers and their tributaries begin to thaw.
“Some rivers in South Dakota and Nebraska have already reached or are over flood stage,” said Col. Joe Casler, North Central Region incident commander. “That doesn't necessarily mean they are out of their banks, but the possibility is definitely present.”
The Nebraska Wing has already flown two missions “to check the ice jamming/flooding potential on the Platte River in eastern Nebraska,” said Col. Bob Todd, wing commander, who flew the most recent sortie.
“On the region level, we developed a new flood-response plan and will implement that should it be needed,” Casler said. “Iowa is having an exercise in 2 1/2 weeks that will focus on a flood response and aerial photography of vulnerable infrastructure in the eastern part of the state. As we saw in North Dakota last spring, this will be a very challenging time of the year for our members, but I know they will respond well.”
Members of all seven North Central Region wings – North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri -- will be prepared to duplicate the extraordinary efforts of a year ago, Casler said.
Flying in support of the state of North Dakota in the spring of 2009, CAP aircraft and aircrews from all 11 squadrons in the North Dakota Wing took more than 5,000 digital photos of the Red River and other major rivers in the state, including the Missouri, Knife, Heart, Souris, Sheyenne, James, Wild Rice and Maple rivers.
The monumental effort involved the wing’s five aircraft, flying out of bases at Minot, Dickinson, Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks to provide the state’s emergency responders with a real-time picture of the flooding.
From March 20-April 16, CAP aircrews made 95 flights totaling 230 hours, capturing and sending photos to the North Dakota State Emergency Operations Center. The CAP imagery alerted decision-makers of potential damage to vital infrastructure, which bolstered the emergency response.
The flood relief response prompted Greg Wilz, state director of emergency services, to declare, “CAP is like the cavalry for North Dakota. We couldn’t have responded as well as we have without them.”
In addition to the aerial surveillance, the North Dakota Wing assisted citizens on the ground with sandbagging in flooded areas in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Beulah. Other volunteers from North Dakota’s neighboring Minnesota and South Dakota wings also helped.
