Update-March 31, 2009

Our family will be heading back to Fargo either tomorrow or Thursday. This all depends on the weather and the roads. Fargo received 5.8 inches of snow overnight and are expecting another 6-8 inches today. This isn't very helpful, as I'm sure you can imagine. There is no travel advised in all of the counties from Ottertail, MN (where we are) to Fargo, ND. The interstate is closed from Grand Forks, ND to Brookings, SD. We are looking forward to getting home and getting back to a normal routine, but we aren't going to risk our safety to do so.
Yesterday was Piper's birthday, and we had a little celebration with Jeff's dad and his girlfriend. I still can't believe she is 5 already! We are going to try to have a party with all of her friends next Saturday, as long as the weather and the river cooperate.
Please continue to pray for those whose homes were affected by the flood. I'm sure it will be difficult to get back to normal life. We are so proud of the way the people in the Fargo-Moorhead area handled this natural disaster. We really proved to the nation that total strangers can help each other-and get nothing in return. Here are some things that have been said about us:
*In North Dakota: when you are evacuated from your home, not only do you NOT have to worry about anybody looting your house, but your neighbors actually come together to form round the clock patrol shifts to make sure your sump pump is still running and your dike is holding up.
*In North Dakota, when FEMA shows up with 900 beds in preparation to accommodate the hundreds of people evacuated, only a few are actually used because practically everyone has already been taken in by neighbors.
*In North Dakota, when word gets out that volunteers are needed to make a few million sandbags, people show up by the thousands-- so many in fact, that they actually have to turn people away because they are so full.
*In North Dakota, not only do these thousands of people show up to volunteer, but dozens more slave away preparing food, making sure said volunteers get a hot meal.
*In North Dakota, the police do not have to worry about being overwhelmed by rampant crime during a disaster as happens in other parts of the country, so they are free to do useful things like helping watch the dikes or checking on the people who have stayed behind.
*In North Dakota, you will stand knee deep in freezing slushy water throwing sandbags to save the house of a total stranger. You submit your body to a virtual beating, blistering your hands and bruising your arms to pass the sandbags along in time. Then when the temperature plummets even more, you will use up the very last of your energy to take the extra step of BEATING the bags with a bat to break up the frozen sand. All for someone you've never met.
*In North Dakota, daycares offer to watch your kids for FREE while you help fight the flood, as well as having your pet taken in and lovingly cared for by the animal clinics (also for free) while you are an evacuee.
*In North Dakota, when the city's daily flood meeting takes place every morning and is opened with a PRAYER, no one objects that it is "not P.C." or that it "offends their senses". In fact, it is practically expected.
*In North Dakota, you do not have to worry about "going without" if your home was overcome by the waters, because even before the water has receded there are emails being sent out offering everything from clothing to children's toys that people are willing to donate to those in need.
*In North Dakota, it is not an option to just give up and assume the government should clean up the mess. You will keep fighting till you can't fight anymore, and if you go down "you will go down swinging".

This is a comment to an article posted on the Boston Globe's website in response to a story on the Red River Valley Flood. Thanks, Jen, for sending this to me.http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/comments_red_river_flooding.html#comments-----Comment 37:Just a personal observation...as I watched the news coverage of the massive flooding in the Midwest with the levee's about to break in Fargo, ND, what amazed me is not what we saw, but what we didn't see...
1. We don't see looting.
2. We don't see street violence.
3. We don't see people sitting on their rooftops waiting for the government to come and save them.
4. We don't see people waiting on the government to do anything.
5. We don't see Hollywood organizing benefits to raise money for people to rebuild.
6. We don't see people blaming President Obama. (Except for Don Marchant, post #30)
7. We don't see people ignoring evacuation orders.
8. We don't see people blaming a government conspiracy to blow up the levees as the reason some have not held.
9. We don't see the US Senators or the Governor of North Dakota crying on TV.
10. We don't see the Mayors of any of these cities complaining about the lack of state or federal response.
11. We don't see or hear reports of the police going around confiscating personal firearms so only the criminal will be armed.
12. We don't see gangs of people going around and randomly shooting at the rescue workers.
13. You don't see some leaders in this country blaming the bad behavior of the North Dakota flood victims on "society" (of course there is no wide spread reports of lawlessness to require excuses).
Comment 133:I relocated to Bismarck from Fargo 2 years ago, and hoped to get reprieve from spring floods. This past week, the water in our community rose to historic levels… I spent hours @ the Civic Center shoveling sand from a pile into bags to support my neighbors. A woman dressed in a purple sweatshirt and jeans worked feverishly next to me. She inspired me to work harder, and I did. It didn't surprise me to hear the name of this woman of such strong character… her name is Mikey Hoeven -- the First Lady of this great state.