A Tale of Two Cities and One Flood

Once there was a large river that ran between the two cities. It was generally very nice and fun because it connects the ecological interests of the United States and Canada.



It was a very happy river. There was even a little bunny enjoying life. It was nice and green and full of life in the summer. Kids go swimming in it or hiking on non-existent trails along the way. There was even a little cruise ship (entirely electric) that goes a ways.

And yes, there was a place called "The Dike" and kids did go sledding there.

Now, the river provided a nice setting for the community. It was an important part of their history and the development of the area, after all.

But it got a little dismal in the winter. The only enjoyable part, really, is the sledding.



They enjoyed this time as the snow turns that disgusting grey-brown mixture because it had been run over by so many cars and boots and generally turns disgusting.

But they loved winter too much around there to really care all that much.

...until they reached about 30" of snow. Then they started to worry.

(Thanks NOAA for the graphic!)

See that nice dark blue spot? That was the river system. And when they reach 30" of snow they all start wondering if it's the next flood-apocalypse or if they would survive another year with their shoddy defenses.

See, think of this community like Kirby.



Except instead of eyes and a mouth they had two major interstates and a river. But they do have the same basic outline!



They were also at the bottom of an ancient lake. Yay for glaciers! What this means is, they were flat. Very, very flat.

The best example to explain what this is talking about to say is this: go spill a glass of water on your table and see where it goes.

If they were lucky, it will only go about here:



That's if they were lucky. If they were not lucky there would be a nice big barrier put up just in front of that red block running parallel to the vertical interstate.

Should this happen, their river will still be kind of happy. But the only green remaining will be some fisherman's boat or jacket as he trolls for whatever kind of fish people would troll for on a river.



Now, they're talking about building a diversion. And there are two plans: a Minnesota Side (light blue), and a North Dakota side (dark blue).



Guess what? Neither side wants it. It doesn't matter that it would save our community. Nope. They had better not tear up any farmland or dare put it on just one side.

We're at about 55" now. Fortunately, it's started warming up enough to melt off a bit. This is good. As long as it does it slowly and we don't get any more snow, we should be in decent shape come April flooding time.

Maybe it's just me...but I kind of like bunnies and sledding. How are we supposed to do that if we become a geographically-center-of-a-continent-Atlantis?

I guess we'll find out how this story ends in April...