Living under the guidance of Proverbs 3:6
March 31, 2009 Leave a Comment
As if the high water mark set last week wasn’t enough, we just polished off another record.
Record snowfall for the day of March 31 was 2.8 inches in 1977. Today’s snowfall? 5.8 inches.
And counting.
We’ll probably whack tomorrow’s record off the books too. April 1 record is 3.4 inches in 1962, tomorrow’s forcast calls for 7 to 14 inches.
March 31, 2009 Leave a Comment
So far so good with the flood fight. The dikes are continuing to hold, the water continues to drop. But what a wild week. Just when things look like they might be settling down (albeit not to a safe level yet) we get whacked with an all-out Winter storm. Lots of snow, probably 10+ inches, and noone to clear the roads. The city plows are giving priority to the dike areas and main traffic arteries, so it could be a while.
The main concerns are obvious. Will the dikes hold? Will the high wind degrade their integrity? But I find myself thinking a lot about secondary concerns:
But even in the middle of all of this, I know that God is still in control. I find myself thinking often of something I used to say with a laugh and a smile. Regarding the 1997 flood, I would say, “That was our practice flood.” But as I think about it, there’s probably a lot of truth in that statement. God is sovereign, I won’t try to understand His amazing ways … but I can’t help but think if He allowed 1997′s flood to happen so Fargo would be better prepared for this year’s flood.
But enough writing for now. There’s SO much work to be done … back to calling customers and prospects from home.
March 30, 2009 Leave a Comment
One of my employees just came to me and said “I think prayer works!” I think he’s right! We’re still waiting for the flood water to recede. The last thing we need right now is more moisture. We are supposed to get snow today. But … check out the big empty spot on this map!
No snow in Fargo for now!
March 29, 2009 Leave a Comment
This has been quite a week. It feels like we have won Round 1 of this flood fight, but there is more to come so we can’t rest on a false sense of security. Fargo-Moorhead built the dikes to a 43-foot level, the river (so far) has topped out at just under 41 feet. The river may no longer be rising but we can’t let our guard down. The dikes need to hold until the water is down to a safe level.
This last week has really been filled with amazing events. Here are the memories that will be permanently etched into my mind:
Those are some of the big memories, but there is so much more. It is truly amazing to see all the volunteers that came together to pull this off. Absolutely amazing. God has truly answered prayers by covering our cities with protection.
March 24, 2009 Leave a Comment
The next few days are going to be interesting. The cities of Fargo ND and Moorhead MN … and really a part of our region that extends over a much larger area … are getting ready for a potentially record-breaking flood. We thought we saw it all in 1997, but they are expecting this year’s water level to go even beyond that record-setting year. The next few days will start to tell the story.
It really sunk in yesterday and again today when I heard the police sirens. What I saw amazed me … flatbed trucks filled with sandbags getting a police escort so they could get where they were going as expeditiously as possible.
I also heard on the news last night that our Governor ordered a National Guard jet to fly south (Nebraska, I believe) to pick up an expert in the dynamics of ice dams on rivers.
The next few days are going to get cold with high temperatures below freezing. I’ve heard that when sandbags freeze they become stiff and porous, so the next few days could be “make it or break it” days for the residents in the region.
Please remember our communities in your prayers.
