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• BLOGGING FROM THE MIDWEST FLOOD SITE
March 26th 1:30pm
We're in the news car heading across the Red River to Moorhead where we'll be feeding out our latest reports from the CBS News satellite truck. Traffic on I-94 is incredibly slow-going. We're crossing the river right now and water is as high as the tree tops in some spots. We can't get off at the exit we need because water from the river is rushing over it.
Right now the river is at nearly 39 feet. The entire city is frantically scrambling to build extra levies--both with sandbags and earthen levies made from clay, mud, and dirt. We just spent 3 hours in a neighborhood in south Fargo. The neighborhood has never flooded before, but right now waters are only 15 to 20 feet from dozens of the homes. Volunteers are out in full force trying to increase the height of the levies already in place to 43 feet. The video is incredible -- make sure to check it out tonight on CBS 2.
I've found all of these really great sites to get information on the flooding.
Here are a couple of the sites.
Media
March 26th 1pm
Teal is out shooting stories for the 5pm newscast tonight.
Teal and Fred were approached by police officers this morning. The officers did not know that they were a media crew. Once 5 officers came over and talked to Teal and Fred and to News Director April Samp over a cell phone -- all was cleared up.
Teal and Fred have been working off satellite trucks, through the CBS station in Fargo, and via the internet.
CBS 2 is truly leading the way in groundbreaking & state-of-the-art technology to bring you the latest breaking news.
Chief Meteorologist Mace Michaels is from the area and knows it well. He is going to go up and help the CBS station in Fargo to give crews there a break. He's also going to report live from Fargo and Grand Forks starting on Friday.
Look for more updates from Fred and Teal as they happen!
Tuesday, March 24th, 5:00 p.m.
CBS 2 Photojournalist Fred Veinfurt and I are on the road headed for Fargo to cover the serious flooding. Hard to believe it's been more than nine months since we were covering the historic floods in Eastern Iowa.
It's a long haul to Fargo and it has been raining for most of our trip. 100 miles west of Fargo and the Red River we're already seeing significant flooding in farm fields, creeks, and tributaries. Mostly likely just a glimpse at what's to come.
When we get to Fargo you can count on us to hit the ground running. Massive sandbagging efforts have been underway for days now and we hope to catch up with people in the community who have dropped everything -- school, work, etc. to fill sandbags and try to save their city. We're also planning to meet up with Red Cross volunteers from Cedar Rapids who are in Fargo to help with relief efforts.
Covering these floods will certainly feel different than covering Iowa's June floods. For one -- we'll be bundled up in winter hats and mittens as the temperature will be in the 20s and 30s.
More from the road later!
-Teal
