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WHEN THE RIVER RAGED
Flood 2011 Revisited
Historic flood of 2011
Photos by Kim Fundingsland/MDN
By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com n this year of severe drought conditions the Souris River looks lifeless and tame and harmless. But in 2011 it rampaged and tore through the City of Minot and the entire Souris River Basin in a devastating and historic fashion, flooding homes and businesses and leaving mud, debris, and misery in its wake. The early warning signs of potential flooding were everywhere, yet few people could grasp what the end result would be. To most people it just didn’t seem possible that the aging Souris could rise to the rooftops of homes in Minot. But it did. Minot’s unique geographical location situates it below four reservoirs – Rafferty, Grant Devine (formerly Alameda), Boundary, and Lake Darling. Rafferty and Grant Devine were constructed to add additional flood protection above Minot after the flood of 1969 that severely crippled the city. That flood was rated as a “1 in 100 years” event. While the additional reservoirs proved valuable several times over the years as protective buffers against high spring runoff, they also meant a large amount of water was being stored above the city that would soon experience what many believed to be a “1 in 500 years” event.
I
WARNING SIGNS
ABOVE: This photo was taken from a Blackhawk helicopter as flooding began in the City of Minot in late June 2011. The water would rise several more feet in the following days. LEFT TOP: Many Minot residents were forced to evacuate their homes due to impending flood waters. June 21, 2011, photo. LEFT MIDDLE: Contractors work furiously to raise and strengthen a dike to protect a section of North Broadway from rising floodwaters. LEFT BOTTOM: The Perkett School area, a low section of the city, was particularly vulnerable to rising flood floodwaters that quickly overwhelmed sandbags and other attempts to protect property in the area. since 1959 were running constantly. Later in the month the National Weather Service declared that “major flooding” was probable once the spring melt got underway. In the Saskatchewan drainage that feeds the upper reaches of the Souris River, very heavy snowfall was reported on top of ground that already contained 200% of normal moisture. By February 1, 2011, Canada warned of the “potential for above normal spring runoff throughout all of southern Saskatchewan.” On Feb. 18, 2010, the NWS issued a very ominous Flood Potential Outlook for the Souris River Basin. The forecast warned of “well abovenormal” chances of flooding along the Souris and cautioned that the amount of snow and water sitting in the basin was a “tremendous amount” and “probably in the top three” in 60 years of data. The International Souris River Board met in Regina, Sask. on Feb. 23 with the threat of flooding one of the major items on their agenda. A flood event was declared and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was alerted. The City of Minot did not have a representative at the meeting. A few days later the Corps stated, “This year seems to be setting up to be different. The ground is wet and saturated and the airborne survey shows a lot of water content.” The NWS reported the snowpack water content to “rank among the highest” in the past 60 years. The NWS continued to warn about the potential for dangerous flooding. An updated Flood Potential Outlook issued March 3, 2010, stated there was “significantly more water in some areas” than was earlier estimated. Later, on March 28, NWS Hydrologist Allen Schlag made a power-point presentation to the Elmer Jesme Conference of Counties held at the North Central Research and Extension Center immediately south of Minot. Although the presentation was a highlight on the conference’s agenda, no one from the City of Minot or Ward County attended. In his presentation, Schlag detailed the massive amount of snow and water in the Souris River Basin and called it, “a recipe for disaster.”
were “close to our drawdown target.” On the same day the City of Minot began preliminary plans for emergency diking for protection against a possible 7,000 cubic feet per second of water in the Souris. Existing dikes in the city were believed to protect against flows of 5,0005,500 cfs. On April 12, releases through Lake Darling Dam were cut from 2,400 cfs to 1,500 cfs at the direction of Corps headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. On the same date a record flow of 6,790 cfs was recorded in Long Creek, a tributary of the Souris that enters Boundary Reservoir near Estevan. Additionally, another Souris tributary, the Des Lacs River, was “outperforming our expectations” according to the NWS. Todd Sando of the State Water Commission offered his view of the saturated situation on April 14. “There will be a tremendous amount of water moving for a long time,” concluded Sando. A day later the United States Geological Survey claimed “Highest Souris Streamflow in 40 years.” Lake Darling, the last point of defense against high water flows in the Souris above Minot, had
reached a level of nearly 1,600 feet where overflow is 1,601.8 feet. The Corps, following an assessment of the existing levee systems through Minot and Burlington, determined 19 items to be “unacceptable” for flood protection. April 19 saw the Souris River rise to 19.17 feet at the Sherwood crossing where flood stage is 18 feet. The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority said that “Rafferty Reservoir is filling, not releasing” and that the top end of the Canadian drainage on the Souris still has “about 100% snow cover.” A day later the USGS declares “New Record Streamflows for Souris Basin.” Within a few days it was readily apparent that warnings about even more water, more dramatic rises on the Souris River, were destined to come true. Releases from Rafferty Reservoir were ramped up to 2,118 cfs with the hopes of keeping flows at Sherwood at 3,200 cfs or below in accordance with treaty obligations between the U.S. and Canada. Sherwood was already flowing at 3,800 cfs. By the 26th the flow in the Souris at the Boy Scout Bridge on Minot’s west See FLOOD — Page 2
In December 2010, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, now the Water Security Agency, issued a statement saying “above normal precipitation during this past summer and fall has left much of the eastern portion of Saskatchewan saturated” and that “rivers and creeks are flowing at rates well above normal.” Quite ominously, the statement included that there was flow in streams “which are normally dry in the fall.” There were ample warning signs in North Dakota too. Water was flowing across fields and low spots throughout the region, even in January in the midst of a freezing North Dakota winter. Numerous hillsides were slumping and caving as their moisture-laden soil gave way. By mid-January ranchers in the Towner area, RESPONSE BEGINS On March 30, the Corps, which had taken where large meadows are relied upon to annuKim Fundingsland/MDN ally produce hay for livestock, reported the over operation of Lake Darling Dam, announced water table in some areas had risen from 8 feet they would be cutting back on releases from As water surged into Minot in 2011 many homes succumbed to the mercy to 3 1/2 feet and sump pumps that hadn’t run Lake Darling into the Souris River because they of the Souris River.
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Page 2
Flood
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Flood 2011 Revisited
Continued from Page 1
side reached 5,440 cfs and flooding began. It was only the mild beginning of what would become horrendous flooding. The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority announced that “The Souris River broke alltime flow records in its upper reaches, snow remains and flows are increasing.” Allen Schlag, NWS hydrologist, explained that Canadian runoff is at “levels they’ve never seen before and I think it is reasonable for changes to occur.” With flooding just getting underway in the Minot area and certainly not yet to critical levels, a three-member Federal Emergency Management Association team toured Ward County to see areas impacted by high water, primarily roads that were impassable due to flooding. A Blizzard Warning issued by NWS prompted the Corps to cut releases from Lake Darling from 4,000 cfs to 3,600 cfs, increasing the rise rate of the shallow reservoir. By May 2 Rafferty Reservoir was eight feet over its previous record high at 1,816 feet and a mere two feet below overflow. Localized flooding was reported in nearby Estevan, Sask. Boundary Reservoir, which is connected to Rafferty by an overflow channel, was 2 1/2 inches from spilling. On the same day the Corps cut flows from Lake Darling Dam to 3,000 cfs. Two days later the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority increased releases from Rafferty and Grant Devine Reservoirs combined to 3,530 cfs. “We expected the news. It was just of matter of when,” remarked Alan Reynolds, Ward County Emergency Manager. On May 5 The Minot Daily News reported nearly all goals regarding the spring melt have been met or exceeded with the expectation that all will go higher. Tony Merriman, NWS, cautioned that “there is still a
the First District Health Unit. The following day the City of Minot held its first press conference since the start of the runoff season and impending flooding, announcing opposition to increased releases from Lake Darling. An email from the Ward County Homeland Security Planner, after Alan Reynolds had been removed from his position, read, “We do not invite the media because we want to ensure that we get the accurate information to you to avoid any confusion.” For the first time city crews responded to the impending situation by erecting Hesco barriers along Fourth Avenue Northwest in a macabre operation to protect against a possible flow of 7,000 cfs. Roland Hamborg, Corps of Kim Fundingsland/MDN Engineers, said “The reservoirs When the flood waters of 2011 receded contents of flooded homes were on the Souris are full or nearly piled on boulevards throughout the city as the sad and lengthy rebuilding full. It’s a dilemma trying to process got underway. July 13, 2011, photo. manage this.” lot of unknowns in regard to the amount of water that may come down the Souris from Canada.” May 10 saw The Minot Daily News travel to Rafferty Reservoir to witness the release of water through that facility and reported that the “Souris River upstream from Minot is nearing uncontrolled status.” A fury was well underway. Releases from Saskatchewan dams reached more than 4,900 cfs on May 10 and both Rafferty and Boundary Reservoirs were declared “pass through” facilities, meaning that inflow was so high that they could no long be used as regulatory structures. Flows of up to 10,000 cfs were predicted at Sherwood. With a weather forecast threatening rain, the Corps again decreased releases from Lake Darling Dam from 3,800 cfs to 3,500 cfs. One day later the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority announced that both Rafferty and Boundary were at maximum capacity and could no longer store additional runoff. Grant Devine was ex-
pected to reach overflow within a few days. A monstrous surge of water yet to come down the Souris River was imminent. The NWS warned all locations along the Souris River to “prepare for one of the lengthiest water events in history” as a new Flood Outlook increased water level projections throughout the Souris River Basin. Releases from Lake Darling were upped to 5,000 cfs. Flow at the Boy Scout Bridge reached 5,940 cfs and flood stage of 1,549 feet was reached at Minot’s Broadway Bridge. The following day, with minimal flood prevention measures underway at some locations in Minot, Saskatchewan releases were upped to 9,390 cfs with more than two feet of additional water expected at Broadway Bridge by nightfall. Canadian flows were believed to still be 5-7 days away. “Rafferty is full. Boundary is full. Long Creek (which enters Boundary) is running high and Alameda (Grant Devine) will be full. Lake Darling is expected to fill. When you add them all up,
the cumulative is that it’s pretty ugly,” said Allen Schlag, NWS. “There’s no stopping the water. There’s just no way around it,” added Reynolds. Releases from Lake Darling were cut from 4,000 to 3,700 cfs in an attempt to buy some time for additional flood preparations within the city. It wouldn’t last long. The following day Lake Darling was opened up further, this time to 4,400 cfs. May 15 saw a flow at Sherwood of 8,500 cfs and increasing, likely to 9,420 cfs according to the NWS. With high inflows entering Lake Darling and that impoundment filling rapidly, the release gates at Lake Darling were opened to their greatest capacity ever, 4,800 cfs. By May 19, that number was 5,000 cfs. The Souris River at Baker Bridge below the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge reached 16.04 feet, second highest ever recorded at that location. The Minot Daily News, attempting to learn more information for the general public, was evicted from an Emergency Operations meeting at
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On May 21 many basements in the city were reported to be taking on water due to a rising water table. Two days later water began to enter low areas of the city and the NWS called for “additional rises.” “We’ve got problems,” said Curt Zimbelman, mayor. Just a day later, on a Tuesday, meeting in special session, the City Council requested the services of the Corps of Engineers. “They tell me they’ll start opening the gates to Lake Darling on Thursday. It’s a race,” said Alan Walter, Minot public works director. Normal flow time for water released from Lake Darling to reach Minot was believed to be about 48 hours. By Thursday, May 26, city crews were called up for hasty dike construction and upgrades as needed in Minot. Citizens of the city were told there was no immediate need to evacuate but should “consider” preparations to do so. The following day Lake Darling was inches from spilling and releasing 5,800 cfs, more water than Minot’s existing dike system was designed to hold. Upstream the situation worsened. “It’s an extraordinary event that is getting beyond the flood they were designed for,” remarked Hamborg as rainfall was forecast. On Tuesday, May 31 Col. Michael Price, Corps of Engineers, announced “There will be flooding in the City of Minot” as “all available contractors” began working on secondary dikes to protect vital infrastructure. The following day an estimated 10,000 Minot residents began mandatory evacuation of their homes following a noon announcement urging people “to get out of harm’s way as soon as possible.” The flow in the rampaging Souris was now expected to be 10,000 cfs, far more than the city’s initial hope to be able to contain 7,000 cfs, yet the city allowed anxious evacuees to return to their homes one week later with much more water still to come. It was on June 2 that 8,000 cfs was being released from Saskatchewan reservoirs and the Corps said to expect 6,000 cfs at Sherwood. On June 6,
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with the Sherwood gauge climbing and flows on the increase, a secondary dike that had been erected along 16th Street in the area of Minot’s Water Treatment Plant, was being removed. The next day the fourth highest flow in history was recorded at the Sherwood gauge. Two days later Lake Darling releases were upped to 7,500 cfs, then 8,100 cfs. “If Darling fills, if there is no storage, Minot is as susceptible to flooding as a town with no dam,” said Joshua Scheck, NWS. “You are living one day at a time because each rain storm is a bullet that needs to be dodged.” On June 15, citing the Corps as a source, Mayor Zimbelman tells the city at a noon press conference that 3,730 cfs is coming down from Canada. A website in Estevan placed the number the previous day at 5,118 cfs. By the 19th the releases from Canada surged to 19,415 cfs, far more water than the system could contain and far too much headed to the City of Minot. Mandatory evacuations were ordered once again. “Rating curves just don’t apply anymore,” said Schlag. As dawn arrived on Tuesday, June 21 came the astonishing news that nearly 30,000 cfs was surging down the Souris River Valley from Canada, so much water that it made its own course, making a mockery of the river channel and historic flow times. It was coming quick, very quick. “What I see right now is probably the most devastating in terms of the number of people directly impacted and what it will do to damage homes as water begins to overtop the levees and fill in behind,” said Major Gen. David Sprycznynatyk, N.D. National Guard. Minot’s evacuation deadline was moved from 10 p.m. to 6 p.m. the following day. The deadline to vacate the river valley in Minot came early due to water that was rising faster than anticipated. It was signaled by the eerie sound of sirens wailing throughout the city. Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman told flood weary residents that, “We’re looking at another seven feet of water.” It was a Friday, June 24, when the Souris River peaked at the Sherwood crossing above Lake Darling at 29,700 cfs, more than double the previous record. Lake Darling, on the brink of overflow with a tremendous amount of water entering the reservoir, was necessarily releasing a dangerous deluge of 26,000 cfs. “It’s a stupendous amount of water for the Souris,” said Schlag. “The cat is way out of the bag and there’s a lot of pain heading towards Minot.” Floodwater reached the gutters and shingles of hundreds of homes in the city, many recently constructed on the city’s east side. The crest of the devastating flood of 2011 was reached Saturday, June 25 at 1,561.8 feet at Minot’s Broadway Bridge, nearly 13 feet above flood stage. It would be several weeks before floodwaters would recede enough to allow residents to assess the damage and begin the lengthy and laborious clean-up and rebuilding phase. Many, physically and mentally exhausted, simply moved away from the carnage to begin a new life elsewhere.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Flood 2011 Revisited
Souris River flood protection has ways to go
LEFT: A walking and maintenance path runs under the 16th Street bridge through an area of completed enhanced flood protection project in Minot.
By JILL SCHRAMM
BOTTOM: A levee in west Minot was among the first pieces of enhanced flood protection put in place in the city.
Senior Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com Building flood protection for the Souris River Basin as fast as possible can be a slow process. The future of flood protection rests on the ability to get funding, said Ryan Ackerman, administrator for the Souris River Joint Board (SRJB). “We will build as quickly as we can afford basically. That is going to be highly dictated by state funding,” he said. “We will be in a position locally to bond for our share on that, but that needs to be balanced as well with the city’s ability to make debt service on a bond through collection of sales tax.” Ackerman said the priority for funding in approaching the 2023 Legislature will be the Maple Diversion project. The following biennium, the focus will be on the milestone to complete flood protection for Eastwood Park, Roosevelt Park and the downtown area on the south side of the river. “That will likely take a couple of bienniums to fund,” Ackerman said. “Following that, we’d be looking at Minot milestone three, which is essentially from the Lowe’s Garden Center area through the eastern end of town.” Within each milestone, there are major features such as levees, flood walls and pump stations. In milestone three, a diversion channel is proposed at 27th Street Southeast to bypass the Green Valley and El Rio Drive neighborhoods. The 27th Street Diversion will be similar to the Maple Diversion in size and configuration, although costs will be less. Ackerman explained there’s no railroad affecting the work at 27th Street and there’s a fair amount of undeveloped land that makes acquisition easier and utility relocation less expensive. “If you consider status quo appropriation levels,” he said,” it’s going to take us an additional 20 years to fully fund the construction of the project. If we can implement this as quickly as possible – if funding was no object – we could probably get it done in six to seven years.” Bonding through the state to pay for the project would advance the work more quickly, but the reality is flood protection is likely to finish somewhere between the seven to 20 years, Ackerman said. Legislation that has been working its way through the 2021 Legislature would allow for completion in another 16 years. The focus isn’t all on Minot, either. Work on rural
Submitted Photos
aspects of flood control are and will continue to be advanced in parallel with work continuing inside Minot. The flood protection plan includes bridge replacements in Sawyer, Velva and at Mouse River Park in 2022 and 2023. Ackerman said those projects will address bottlenecks, or pinch points, for the river flowing through those communities. The bridges will reduce flood risk as a first phase of work to be done in those areas, he said. In Burlington, replacement of the Colton Avenue bridge was completed in May 2020. Construction of levees on the south end of the community began last year and another phase getting started will add levees on the north side of Colton Avenue. A final phase remains and is in the property acquisition stage.
Design work on the levee to protect the Robinwood subdivision, west of Minot, is in the 2021-23 work plan. Initial funding for construction will be sought in the 2023-25 biennium. “Additionally, there’s some work being considered to reduce flood risk in other rural areas that won’t have a levee. So whether that’s by improving conveyance in some areas or addressing pinch points in rural bridges, we’ll be evaluating the viability of some of those options,” Ackerman said. Down the road, flood protection systems will be designed for Sawyer, Velva and at-risk rural subdivisions. “Unfortunately, we have to establish a priority list to decide which projects we’re going to work on first,” Ackerman said.
Often, priority is determined by the amount of damage sustained in the 2011 flood or by identifying areas of greatest vulnerability, he said. Communities that fought the 2011 flood and won or didn’t sustain as much damage typically end up as a lower priority because of that demonstrated resilience, he said. “Nobody likes hearing that, but that’s the reality of
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what we have to do, given constraints on the budget,” Ackerman said. Individual rural properties already have been addressed through the StARR program, which provided structure acquisitions, relocations or ring dikes. The piece that is separate from the flood protection project is management of Canadian dams that have reserved space for flood protec-
tion. River management is being studied, but Ackerman said reservoir operations are unlikely to see significant changes. Enhanced instrumentation to better evaluate the hydrology of the basin should help going forward, although Ackerman noted the climate, geology and hydrology of the region create a volatility that makes managing for flood years challenging.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Flood 2011 Revisited
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SUPT. VOLLMER REMEMBERS FLOOD OF 2011
Page 6
Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Flood 2011 Revisited
Saturday, April 24, 2021
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com
The Souris River flood of 2011 lives on in the memories of Minot residents for the devastastion it wrought but also the can do attitude that was displayed by the community’s resid e n t s , Vollmer particularly by teachers and students. “It was such an incredible time of uncertainty,” said Superintendent Mark Vollmer, who had only been hired as the superintedent in February 2011 after years as principal at Magic City Campus and was set to take his post the following July. Unwelcome event after unwelcome event followed, with a heavy rain over the Memorial Day weekend, then more rain. The waters rose, the valley flooded, and with it came damaged or destroyed school buildings and questions about when or if classes could resume that fall. Vollmer said he remembered that the district constructed dikes around school buildings in the flood zone at the end of May and beginning of June that year. By the time the waters receded, the old Erik Ramstad Middle School building and Lincoln Elementary had been destroyed anyway but Perkett Elementary survived. Other elementaries in the flood zone, including McKinley and Roosevelt Elementaries were severely damaged. “Every building in the valley was impacted,” said Vollmer. The district rallied and made arrangements for temporary school facilities so classes started only a about a week late that fall. Ramstad Middle School students attended classes in portable buildings located outside the Minot Municipal Auditorium. Other classes were held in other schools, some in portable class-
MDN File Photos
ABOVE: Erik Ramstad Middle School RIGHT: Perkett Elementary rooms, or in a church. “I’m very proud of the fact that every child in the district had a desk to sit in that first day,” said Vollmer. Vollmer said he was also struck by how people got to work to make things better and their ‘stick to itness’ attitude. He remembers going out for a walk behind the library and talking to an elderly woman who was standing on the railroad bridge watching the water spilling out. She told him, ‘I wish we could get this water out right now so I could get out and start working on my house.’ “ The flood caused a lot of damage, but Vollmer said some good came out of it too, in the way different community agencies and government entities began to work together and formed strong partnerships to
benefit the whole community. Through crisis came opportunity, said Vollmer, and new ways of looking at how the school district delivers education. The lessons learned then served educators well when they were asked to grapple with how to educate kids nearly a decade later during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Vollmer said educators have always kept their eye on the most important thing, which is how to educate kids.
“We can work to thrive or we can just wait for things to happen to us,” said Vollmer. During this year of the pandemic, Minot Public Schools was the only large school district in the state that offered face-to-face classes throughout, beginning on the first day of school last fall Some teachers and students have been out of classes due to quarantine requirements but school remained in session. Focus groups were held to give par-
ents, teachers, and students a voice in what they wanted to see happen. Other ongoing projects also began and are ongoing in the aftermath of the flood. After the flood, a new Erik Ramstad Middle School was built in a new location in north Minot to replace the school that had been engulfed by the flood waters and a new addition was built at Longfellow Elementary to replace Lincoln Elementary, which had also been damaged
beyond repair. Ramstad was built larger than the original middle school to accommodate what school board members anticipated would be larger class sizes in coming years. Vollmer said both Ramstad and Jim Hill Middle Schools are now over capacity, which is why the school board is pondering the need for more building to accommodate the needs at the middle school and high school levels. The total flood damage done was about $70 million. FEMA paid most and the district matched 3 percent, said Vollmer. A bond issue passed in 2014 paid for the construction of the new John Hoeven Elementary in southeast Minot and additions at Edison and Perkett Elementaries, which largely addressed overcrowding at the elementary level. Another bond issue would have to be approved to address overcrowding at the middle school and high school levels. Minot school board members voted at a meeting in early April to hire AckermanEstvold of Minot, teaming with LSE Architects from Minneapolis, to develop a comprehensive plan for the use of the school district’s properties moving forward. There is no guarantee that the district will move forward with any building projects but, among other things, the district wants a proposal on how to convert a former Cognizant property into a second high school for the district. The district purchased the northwest Minot property for the nominal fee of $10. The architectural firms will also be asked to look at how the district can put to use 70 acres south and east of the new Ramstad that was donated to the district by Northern Lights Idlewild, LLC for the nominal free of $1. Also on the list of properties that need a new purpose is the site of the former Erik Ramstad Middle School near Minot State University, which has been vacant since the flood and is still owned by the school district.
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Page 7
MSU PROFESSOR KIBLER RECALLS SOURIS RIVER FLOOD 10 YEARS LATER Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Flood 2011 Revisited
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com
It has been 10 years since the Souris River flood that devastated Minot and memories are still vivid for those who lived through it, including Robert Kibler, a professor of humanities and literature at Minot State University. “Out at our farm in Burlington, we decided to wait the flood out,” said Kibler. “But in the middle of the night, National Guardsman came to our door and told us we needed to evacuate, because the river was closing us in on all sides. We told them no, we would stay, so they left, and in their leaving, we felt the weight of loneliness descend. My wife (MSU biology professor Alexandra Deufel) and I went back to bed, but not to sleep, and the more we thought about it, staring each at the ceiling, the more we felt we needed to get out of there. So in the middle of the night, we put out spotlights run by our generator, and got the wild horses into a trailer, the hiss of the river all around us like a wild thing,, and tried to leave. But indeed, we were cut off. I got out of the truck on the road and wanted to see how deep and fast the river was running over it, thinking if it was low, we could still make it. But the river was high, and fast. We had to turn back, or rather, back up with the horses in the trailer, the baby crying. We unpacked, went back to bed, stared at the ceiling, and waited. The house did not flood, but in the morning, the river was everywhere around us. All of our land was under water save the house, and a small part of the corral. It was a brave new world to which we awakened.” More difficulties came later. “I was evacuated from my home in Burlington, and we lost two apartment buildings in town from the flood,” said Kibler, who also has rental properties. “We rebuilt. A colleague from the university offered to take us in, but we were in the unique position of having our non-English speaking parents just come over from Germany for vacation, and had a twoyear-old toddler – more than we could foist on any other household. So my wife, her parents, and our son went on an extended vacation during the flood. I stayed here to watch the
Submitted photo
Minot State University professor Robert Kibler well remembers the Souris River flood of 2011. house and keep the sump pumps going, and I evacuated to the Dome on campus.” Kibler was one of many who ended up staying at the MSU Dome, which had been set up as a shelter for people who had been displaced by the flood. Eventually, that refuge too was no longer habitable and Kibler had to find other temporary lodgings. “In the first couple days of Dome
evacuation, the only food they had was pudding,” said Kibler. “Beyond that, it was kind of exciting, people coming in from all walks of life, setting up little bed cot islands with others like them. A group of musicians and their kids formed a pod, for example, some church groups gathered together. And people swooped in all of the time – a couple girls who had stayed out late at the bars came in, all
decked out, but bewildered at what was happening. The Dome, however, collapsed. First we could not take showers, and then we could not flush the toilets, so I slept in my office in Hartnett Hall, and then decided to risk going home. My street in Burlington – South Project Road – was patrolled by National Guard, marching and in jeeps, so I had to sneak in to my house, put up blankets over the windows and watched movies much of the time.” Rebuilding for Kibler and Deufel was as challenging as for many homeowners and business owners in Minot whose properties had been engulfed by the flood waters. “My wife and I were stunned out of action for a month or so after the flood, then realized we had to do something, so ran the FEMA Small Business Loan administrative gauntlet, received funds to rebuild, and then I hired some of my students to work gutting the properties,” said Kibler. “They were English majors, and we first pulled out the drywall, cut up the floors, then extracted three five gallon buckets of nails from the wood frame. Then the Servpros came in and disinfected, cleaned up, and the giant cranes came and hauled away the debris from the front yards, and we began the rebuilding process. I hired a group from Minnesota and they stayed in the place, working by day and playing guitars and watching movies at night. Nomadic groups cruised the neighborhoods in trucks and trailers, looking for stuff to take, so we always had to watch out, and the familiar sound of the Food Trucks, calling workers out of the flooded buildings, was a highlight, always. “It was summer, so our work was not affected so much, other than the disruptions. And we had other apartments for rent, and when we interviewed prospective tenants, we would get people who were bankers, for example, and held steady jobs, and when I asked them where they were currently living, they would answer that currently, they were living under a bridge. Yet putting on a shirt to head to work.” Before the flood, neither Kibler nor Deufel had lived through a natural disaster like the flood. Now they know what it means, he said, and understand what people are going
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through when they hear about a flood on the news. At the beginning, the flood, or potential of a flood, was kind of exciting, said Kibler. “We had had flood threat on the Des Lacs for several of the previous years, and we sandbagged homes with people, and it was fun. And when the river is high, as it was several times on the Des Lacs, at night you could go out and hear the high hiss of the river all around you, like a living thing. Our horses were going crazy and we moved everything to higher ground several times. I keep bees, and the river in our pastures rose so fast I had to evacuate the bees in the middle of the night, floodwaters rising to catch me. And the waters did catch me, and my Bobcat was stuck in rising waters and the bee boxes fell open and all of the bees started attacking. A wild kind of mayhem, but still, kind of exciting when you do not know the devastation of floodwaters. “Even when Minot flooded, it was exciting. I was just turning down into the valley off of Burdick when all of the sirens sounded, (meaning it was time to evacuate). My heart raced, and when I got to my properties, everything was still sunny and normal. People were pulling stuff out of their houses, including furnaces, et cetera, but we all knew that water was now creeping towards us from somewhere. The pace picked up, and it was a thrill. But then the flood actually came, it changed. I had never experienced a flood before, and neither had my wife Alexandra. Now, however, a decade later, we still get teary eyed when on the news they show a community flooding. We know what that means now, and we have empathy, whereas before, we did not know the true impact of a flood.” Looking back on the flood, Kibler said he thinks the city has missed some opportunities. He is disappointed that Minot has rebuilt but has not yet really enacted a flood plan. He visited Frederick, Md., another city that had flooded, and was impressed by its rebuilding efforts and transformation from a “kind of run down cow town” to a “major tourist site.” “They made a major investment in the city, and it paid off in spades,” said Kibler. “Minot has not done anything like this. Too bad.”
Page 8
Saturday, April 24, 2021
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