When I thought long and hard about where I would like to do my research paper on, I didn’t really have the fondest idea where I should focus on. Then when I thought about Valley City, the town I was born and raised in, where I have done so much and tried so hard. I thought about home, where this disaster hit me personally the hardest. The rural part of Valley City. Places such as the Stevens Ranch, the Pederson Farm, and my home, the Fairfield Ranch. I drove down the Kathryn Road today on my way to the Ranch and can still see the havoc this flood brought to our door step, literally. You can see the water line that the flood made from the fast moving currents filled with debris, you can see all the mud behind and gummed up drainage ditches that will need some serious work done to them. Many roads are still closed due to washed out areas. Claussen Springs was hit with a failure in the dike system there that almost washed out everything down stream. Almost every farm or ranch yard that’s close to the river either still has water in it, or has a lot of debris that will make this summer a pleasant one. The streets of Valley City are covered in clay dirt. Sewers are backed up and fail in certain areas of the town causing sewers to back up and fill places like the museum with sewage and the horrible smell that comes with it. Having to use port ‘o’ potties and not your usual bathroom facilities is a pain. The constant watch everyone had to make sure water usage was at a minimum to reduce that amount of pressure on the pipes and backed up sewer systems. Even with all of these things hitting the people of Valley City and the rural communities, everyday that water gets lower and lower and hope springs eternal.
Last but not least, I cannot forget all the hard work and effort everyone put towards this flood effort. VCSU students did their civic duty to this town and helped it out in the town’s time of need. The Public Works workers going 2-3 weeks strait without a single day off from work. The Mayor, Mary Lee Nielson, did a wonderful job making sure everyone was well informed of any situation and making announcement promptly. Our state governor and people who represent us giving us that extra boost of confidence to get through this hard time. I thank you all who have helped me, and helped this community!
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I think it is cool you are focusing your project on the rural communities instead of the cities. Since non of us really have a prespective on what it was like in the farming communities of the Sheyenne Kathryn Valley. It sounds like things got pretty messed up out there, but just like the city farming communities pull together too. I know I helped the pedersons help make a ring dike when things where getting close. Thats what people do in times of stress they help each other out.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see what its like out in the country. Most of us thought it was bad in the city but out there just from you blog it sounds a lot worse. We never pay attention to how much we use water on the daily bases and then when we can’t use it we don’t know what to do. It is going to take a lot of time just to clean up everywhere around the city and in the country. I didn’t know that the museum got backed up by the sewer but that will take a while just to get that back to normal.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good idea because there were a lot of people that were affected by this flood that were not in any of the cities. Some of these places were getting flooded before the worst hit Valley City, so I can imagine what it would have been like for a of the people down stream. I have not been down there since after the flooding began, but I imagine the mess that will be left behind for all of the people that live close to the river.
ReplyDeleteI like how you thanked people at the end of your post. I left town for a couple weeks while the flood was at the highest. How is the country handling the flood? Is it effecting homes, or just farmland?
ReplyDeleteYour topic is interesting. It seems like everone including me is doing Valley City. It is good that you are writing what you know about. I can't imagine being affected as much as you guys were. I mean, I live on campus and we sandbagged and stuff but campus never really got hit by the flood. The only thing that happened to campus were the huge dikes in the middle of the road.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to hear for the first time that people along the river had to be evacuated too. But as I thought about it, quite a few farms are within 100 yards of the river and some even closer. Another thing that people don't realize is that some feilds that were planted last fall with winter wheat had their crops washed away with the water!
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice to see the community as a whole come together to help our neighbors out. Not just the city of Valley City but the surrounding areas that were being affected by the fast moving river. It will definitly take a lot of time to get this place back to "normal" but if the community comes together to help clean it up, we will have "normal" back very soon. You have a lot of personal experiences that will help in your research.
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