Here comes the flood...

[imec]

7:30 Saturday morning, Chez imec. Most of the ice has left, water is rising. We have a job to do today.










The first trucks arrive. Each one carries approximately 500 bags each filled with 30-40lbs of sand.














The trucks also bring an essential element of an effective sandbag dike - rolls of poly.




We lay the poly along the planned dike route...




And the first bag is laid.





We use vehicles loaned by the city to stage bags at strategic locations along the dike route.







Later in the morning, volunteers begin to assemble.




Most of the volunteers are asked to form lines which are used to rapidly move bags to the desired locations.

























Bit by bit the dike takes shape. The job is largely supervised by a few residents who are familiar with the design of the dike and the process required to erect it. BTW, "supervise" DOES NOT mean standing around giving orders - it still requires A LOT of heavy lifting and bending and my muscles and joints are still sore on Monday.






The bags must be laid according to a particular design and individually positioned in a certain way (tails downstream) to ensure the dike's integrity. The poly is weaved through the bags as they are laid in a manner which creates a waterproof barrier and is not exposed to dangerous floating ice.






Volunteers come and go throughout the day - food and drink is provided by the Salvation Army and by the residents.




By 4PM our job is complete - and imecs yard has taken on the appearance of Max Yasgur's farm after Jimi left the stage. Oh well, at least we are now protected from another spring flood of the Red River.

[Deleted]

Yikes! (And I haven't even seen the photos yet since my office computer won't allow it.)

I'm sure I'll have a more pertinent comment later.

[Deleted]

Okay, I have seen the photos now. Great report, imec! It looks like a relatively gentle "flood" but better safe than sorry, right? Am I correct in assuming that the vast majority of the people are volunteers and not paid municipal workers? Does this happen every year or just certain years?

Is the water still rising, or is it all finished now?

[auntieannie]

very interesting, imec!

brrrr... a flood. my worst nightmare!

[Deleted]

This is a great report. Thanks for taking the time to show us the follow up to your iceberg video from last year. I had no idea that you folks went through such an ordeal like this,jeez.
Living in flood territory myself,I have to say, I am super impressed with the collective effort.
Where do the volunteers hail from? Are they Manitobians or from other Provinces as well?
Good luck with all this. I hope you are spared having to leave your homes. I know the feeling.

[imec]

Thanks everyone!

Apr 11, 2011 16:57:14 GMT kerouac2 said:

It looks like a relatively gentle "flood" but better safe than sorry, right? Am I correct in assuming that the vast majority of the people are volunteers and not paid municipal workers? Does this happen every year or just certain years?

Is the water still rising, or is it all finished now?

This flood is not expected to be as big as the "flood of the century" in 1997 when many of us were evacuated. It has however already damaged/destroyed some homes and is responsible for at least one death.

Almost all are volunteers.

It doesn't happen every year - I've lived in this house since 1996 and we've only had to build a dike in 97, 09 and 11. The river has not yet crested, however, the Winnipeg Floodway is now in operation which will manage the levels inside the city for the most part.

Apr 12, 2011 3:08:18 GMT casimira said:

Where do the volunteers hail from? Are they Manitobians or from other Provinces as well?

The volunteers are mainly Manitobans and mainly Winnipeggers but you never know who is going to show up. We had a large contingent of Japanese students show up on Saturday.

[bixaorellana]

Imec, apologies for replying so late. I have internet problems and am only now seeing the thread in its entirety.

My goodness, my back hurts just looking at that project!

There are quite a few people in the pictures. Were there enough? That was really noble of the Japanese students. That must have been unexpected!

As always, your photos are great. The first ones, in the misty morning, are quite lovely. (I'll be expecting #4, matted, framed, & signed, in the mail. Thanks)

My sister & brother-in-law lost everything to a flood of a river which "hardly ever" overflowed. Is there a move afoot to create a permanent barrier of some sort?

[bjd]

I saw a news report about the Red River about to flood the other day and thought of you, Imec. Good to see that people come to help out.

The Japanese students will have something interesting to tell people about when they go home. Not your usual visitor activity.

[auntieannie]

I think events in Japan must have spurred them on. Suddenly, such community activities become really important.

We have a wide flood prevention system here, with a large "flood plain" between the river and canal. But it is frightening how some councils allow people to build on flood relief areas.

[mich64]

Hi Imec, your photos really give us all an insight of what the people along this river go through most years. I did not hear of any ice jamming this year, this must help when that does not happen? I also heard a report that they have prisoners in the jail fill sandbags to help out? Do you have to request the dumptruck come with a load of the sandbags?

It seems to be a well organized contingency plan. I guess the municipalities have had many decades to improve the planning.
Great report for those of us who do not experience this. Hoping you all remain safe and dry.
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

I keep hearing on NPR about the Red River in Fargo,North Dakota cresting. I am so curious as to whether or not the folks there,being in the U.S.,have counties as organized as your Provinces seem to be there in Canada. I know here in Louisiana,we would be very hard pressed to have anything near the level of that organized a government or community project occur on even an emergency basis.
I know it's an all together different scenario,but,still and all,y'alls seems so very organized.

[imec]

Thanks folks. Yes we had enough volunteers to get the job done in one day (7:30 - 4:30). The city is very well versed in the process of delivering the necessary supplies and equipment, organizing volunteers and providing staff to supervise if necessary. I believe Fargo (and Grand Forks), ND are also similarly efficient at preparing for these types of events - although Grand Forks was largely destroyed (the downtown area by fire) in the 97 flood and underwent an extensive rebuild. They no doubt learned some important lessons form that catastrophe.

[Kimby]

Pondering the cyclical need to protect your home from a natural disaster reminds me of forest fire season for those of us who live in the woods. Except we can't erect a wall of sandbags to keep back the flames. We both put our homes in the path of danger in exchange for having lovely views and a great place to live most of the time.

Wishing you good luck as you battle Mother Nature, imec.

[bjd]

Imec, how does it work with building permits where you live? Is the fact that the area is in danger of flooding annually taken into consideration?

Last year in western France on the coast several people died when their houses were flooded. Their houses were built in floodable areas. Of course, these permits have been given in many places over the years, but this time the mayor, and the municipal person in charge of giving building permits (whose son owns a real estate company!) have been charged with a crime.