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Floods can result from many different factors, such as snow melt, heavy rainfall, storm surges, or broken structures (dams, floodwalls, etc.).
2006 |
March 2006 English Coulee- Grand Forks, ND: Rapid snow melt caused the English Coulee, which runs through the University of North Dakota, to overflow its banks during the last few days of March. The Red River also began to backflow into the Coulee, but gates at their confluence reduced the flooding along the Coulee.
March 28: Melted snow created lakes across campus and began to fill the Coulee.
March 30: The Coulee continues to fill and overflows its banks.
March 31: The Coulee crests early in the morning about 6 feet above its normal height. The creek dropped back to normal within two days.
April 2006 Red River- Grand Forks, ND/East Grand Forks, MN: Late winter snows and rapid snow melt in the Red River basin raised the Red River to its fifth highest levels in Grand Forks during the first week of April.
April 3: After spending some time in the Twin Cities, I biked to the river in downtown Grand Forks to take photos of the Red River as it neared the bottom of the Sorlie Bridge. By this time Grand Forks had erected its newly installed floodwalls and East Grand Forks was just finishing installing theirs.
April 4: The river continues to rise and flood the east approach of the Sorlie Bridge early on the morning of the 4th, putting the East Grand Forks floodwall to the test. The waters lap at the foot of the railroad bridge.
April 5: The Red River continues to rise. Water flows out of sewers on the west side of the Sorlie Bridge, but stops short of covering the west approach.
April 6: The river crests at 47.85 feet, the 5th highest flood in Grand Forks' history, during the mid-morning hours of April 6. I managed to sneak across the Sorlie and Point bridges to get some up-close shots of the flood in the early afternoon. An eight foot dike was hastily built on the Grand Forks approach of the Point Bridge, but waters never reached such heights. The East Grand Forks side, however, was submerged in 4-6 feet of water.
April 7: The floodwaters begin to recede, as seen by the high water marks left everywhere along its banks. Debris, such as logs, bottles, and vegetation, line the river bank.
April 13: The Sorlie Bridge reopens as the river continues to fall. Note the logs still stuck to the bottom of the bridge.
April 22: The local AMS chapter helps clean up the debris left behind from the flood. By this time the river is just above flood stage.
May 5: I bike down to the river on last time to take post-flood photos of the area before cleanup can begin; the river is back to its normal height. See the Flood Comparison Slideshow in the videos section for a slideshow of flood and post-flood photos.
All Photos and Videos are Copyright © 1997-2007 Kevin Skow
