Water Surging in Minot, North Dakota
A temporary levee in Minot, N.D., nears overtopping from the Souris River June 22. The City of Minot enforced a mandatory evacuation shortly before 1 p.m. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, along with the North Dakota National Guard, continued to reinforce temporary levees to allow citizens affected by the mandatory evacuation enough time to safely leave the area. The Corps will continue to support local officials within the Souris Basin during the historic flood event. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Patrick Moes)
After a nightmarish day Wednesday (June 22, 2011), when thousands of Minot residents rushed to flee the flood threat from the Souris River, those same people woke to a new nightmare today. The predictions for the final flood level and the time of its arrival and the length that the water will stay at these record levels all seem to be getting higher and sooner and longer.
The mandatory evacuation deadline for the city of Minot, ND, changed to eight hours earlier yesterday as river gauges and spotter reports suggested that the flows from upstream on the Souris River would exceed earlier projections and would arrive much sooner. Folks scrambled and about 12,000 residents found other places to stay for the night.
New analysis of stream flows and water levels suggested that Wednesday’s data was far too optimistic. The crest will be higher and arrive sooner than expected just 24 hours ago.
Many Minot residents are very critical of both the Army Corps of Engineers and their Canadian counterparts for their handling of the flooding. Much of this anger rests on simple misunderstandings about the existing flood control structures. In addition, the sheer volume of rainfall and snowmelt fueling this flood event is almost incomprehensible.
Within the circle, just a portion of the Souris River basin upstream from Minot, over 2.4 billion cubic feet of excess rain was received in May and June of 2011.
This rainfall was general over much of the upriver portion of the Souris Basin. The region was already waterlogged from snowmelt and rains prior to May. The dams on the Canadian side have been dealing with tens of billions of cubic feet of excess water. Those dams were established to provide a reservoir of water during droughts and to provide flood protection in times of high water.
The Canadian reservoirs reached levels that required the dams to discharge excess water or face overtopping of the spillways. The Souris River is the outlet for those discharges.
Only one dam stands between Canada and the city of Minot. The Lake Darling dam was built to regulate the water levels in a number of wildlife refuges along the Souris. It keeps the marshes used by ducks, geese and other wildlife wet. The Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge is the main beneficiary.
The Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Lake Darling to ensure that the dam is not overtopped. That discharge rate will climb to at least 28,000 cubic feet per second later in the week.
The Souris Basin above Minot in the United States has not had a dry year, either.
Minot area precipitation percentage above normal for last 180 days
Precipitation in the Minot area north has ranged from 150-200% of normal in 2011. The area is soaked.
The current water level on the Souris at Sherwood, ND, is 27.93, over two feet above the previous record. At Foxholm, south of the Lake Darling dam, the water level is at 18.8 ft, a foot and a half over the previous record. But… the projection is that the river at this gauge will rise another four feet.
The gauge at the Broadway bridge in Minot has been an issue. It is currently reporting a river level 2.5 feet below the record. The projection, however, is that the river will rise to around 1,564 to 1,566 feet, meaning that the river will rise another nine feet.
Table of contents for Minot flood 2011
the attachments to this post:
temporary levee in Minot, N.D.
180 day ND precip
canada rain
[...] FLOOD WATER SURGING in Minot, North Dakota. [...]