Flood Surpasses 1885 Event,

As Peak Dam Releases Approaches
 

June 14, 2011

By Mark Armstrong

Today, the ever rising historic flood surpassed the 18 foot mark in Bismarck, North Dakota, surging past a flood that occurred in 1885 and pushing into a "moderate" flood, just a foot below major flooding. For the 4,000 people forced out of 800 homes already on both sides of the river here, it is already the major event in their lives. As this mega-flood swallows their homes, some wonder if they will ever get to go home again. Normally on Flag Day, there would be kids playing on sandbars, pontoon boats putting up and down the river and fishermen trying for walleye in the early or late evening hours. Now at ten times its normal size, the Missouri river through this populated area is causing nothing but heartbreak and devastation.

"The hardest part is losing our neighbors," said Becky Stoltz, one of the 100 plus families forced from her home on Hogue Island, 7 miles north of Bismarck. Hogue Island was home to about 100 beautiful newer houses in the cottonwoods near the river. With the rising floodwaters, all those homes are either flooded or inaccessible except by boat or canoe. "We were a tight community, we could walk down to the beach, see our kids at the playground, now it is all gone," said Stoltz.

Residents wonder what will be left when the floodwaters begin to recede after the middle of August, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some blame the Corps for what has happened.

It is a fact that all the great pre-dam floods happened in the early Spring, when ice jams on the Missouri backed up water and burst forward. This will be the first time in history that a flood for over two months will be sustained in the summer months. That could not have happened without the dam system in place. For six decades the dams have protected Bismarck and Mandan from a major flood. This time Garrison dam gave most residents time to move their possessions to higher ground, but ultimately, for whatever reason, the dam system will cause the greatest disaster to ever strike North Dakota.

We are Living in Historical Times

The worst flood ever in Bismarck/Mandan, since records were kept beginning in 1875, was 31.60 ft on March 31, 1883. It was a "watershed" (pardon me) year for Bismarck and North Dakota Territory. The city of Bismarck, founded just a few years before as "Edwinton" had changed its name to "Bismarck" after the Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia, who unified Germany. The Northern Pacific Railroad found this place on the Missouri river to be the only suitable crossing for a "high-bridge" over the Missouri. Edwinton, then Bismarck would be safe from the annual floods because it was laid out on the high bluff above the railroad tracks. No-one who lived "below the tracks" could be expected to be safe from the floods that were sure to come nearly every year.  Bismarck and Mandan have lived through some interesting times. This summer, we are going to live through one of its most interesting chapters ever.

Mark Armstrong later asked the Army Corps of Engineers to let the citizens of the area know as quickly as possible if greater than 150 cfs will be released from the dam.  The reason for this request is that many home owners are pouring resources into homes to save them.  If the water continues to rise past the predicted flood stage, more homes will be completely unsalvageable, thereby leaving the homeowners to relocate, leaving their homes to the devastation of the river.