Grand Forks Part II
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Congrats to all who helped to save Fargo. We were close to being forced out and not being able to protect ourselves.
From the Fargo Forum;
Walaker says exodus would have sunk city
âFront line of defenseâ was key in fighting off flood, mayor says
Had Fargo launched a citywide evacuation as urged by state and federal officials late last week, the effects on the city could have been devastating, said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker.
By: Dave Olson, INFORUMGov. John Hoeven, left, talks with Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker during a public briefing Saturday. Associated Press
A pickup drives through floodwaters flowing across Cass County 17 on Tuesday north of West Fargo. David Samson / The Forum RELATED CONTENT
Hoeven and Walaker
Driving through the water
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Had Fargo launched a citywide evacuation as urged by state and federal officials late last week, the effects on the city could have been devastating, said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker.âIf weâd have walked away at that time, Iâm sure the majority of the city would have been flooded,â Walaker said. âThe people are our front line of defense.â
The closed-door meeting to talk about whether to do a large-scale evacuation took place at the height of Fargoâs flood battle late last week. The discussion became heated at times, with Fargo leaders striving to convince state and federal authorities the cityâs defenses were sound, said Vice Mayor Tim Mahoney.
âThey came in as a team,â said Walaker, referring to the meeting, which included Gov. John Hoeven and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
âFirst of all, you have to understand their concerns: They donât want anything like (Hurricane) Katrina, or some place like that,â Walaker said.
âBut they didnât fully understand how much preparation, how much work weâd already gone into to try to save our community,â he added.
Mahoney said the governor and FEMA wanted the city to strongly consider a large evacuation.
Don Canton, a spokesman for Hoeven, said state and federal officials met with Fargo leaders to evaluate the âadvisabilityâ of a citywide evacuation.
âIâm sure there was a discussion of mandatory evacuation, but thatâs not what was agreed on and executed,â Canton said.
He said the agreement reached, that vulnerable adults would leave and voluntary evacuations would be done in some areas, âobviously worked.â
Mahoney said Fargo already was in the process of evacuating vulnerable individuals before the meeting with state and federal officials.
He said that move apparently prompted someone to âpull the triggerâ on a larger-scale evacuation, because parts of interstates 29 and 94 were closed Friday, the day before the Red River crested in Fargo at 40.82 feet.
Mahoney said he called the governorâs office about the highway closings and was told the matter would be fixed.
And it was, said Lance Gaebe, the governorâs deputy chief of staff.
Gaebe said the interstate shutdown was the result of a glitch in communication between emergency management officials and the department of transportation.
âThey basically said to prepare to put out an announcement in case we need to do this, and it got released as if it were happening,â Gaebe said.
âAlmost as quickly as that, the retraction went out,â he added.
Mahoney said he considered the matter settled and turned his attention back to fighting the flood.
Walaker said the meeting lasted about 45 minutes and all sides voiced their opinions.
After the talks were over, Walaker was told the decision was his to make.
âI said, âOK, Iâve made my decision: We will continue to protect our city,â â Walaker said.
Walaker said he doesnât want to âcreate any adversarial positions between us and the people who support us,â he said.
But, he added, he wasnât going to give up on his city, either.
âAs long as we were continuing to hold our own, I wasnât willing to abandon the people,â Walaker said.
The decision to limit evacuations turned out to be a good one, according to Walaker.
âPeople said they wouldnât have gone anyway,â he said.
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honestly, you sound dumber all the time. Closing the interstate was a waste of time and resources and was not needed. The fact that they did it FOR the city of fargo does in a way put it in his jurisdiction. The widespread panic it could have caused more than warrants him to go ape shit. You should neglect to comment on such basic things you have proven to have little knowledge of
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Bp-08;269142 wrote:
That would have been real dumb to evacuate Fargo. Where the hell are 90,000+ people going to go. Why would we just give up on our city?Cause FEMA and the government so badly fuck everything else up all the time! They underestimated the resolve in these community's, they figured we would toss our hands up and panic and make it another Katrina, so they wanted us out. I watched them bring in South Dakota Highway patrol and start blocking on and off ramps, to prepare for a mass evac. I would imagine city officials had every right to go nuts and tell them this is our city. Imagine the cluster fuck of tens of thousands of people panicked and trying to get out of a city cause some federal idiots wanted to pull the plug on our city and claim it is going to flood.
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Grr;269140 wrote:
honestly, you sound dumber all the time. Closing the interstate was a waste of time and resources and was not needed. The fact that they did it FOR the city of fargo does in a way put it in his jurisdiction. The widespread panic it could have caused more than warrants him to go ape shit. You should neglect to comment on such basic things you have proven to have little knowledge ofPlease, since you're extremely knowledgeable in the subject, tell me how the mayor of Fargo would be in charge of deciding when and if federal roadways are closed? Oh its because Fargoians would be using it to evac? Yeah, that makes it his jurisdiction. /eye roll
I didn't say that closing the interstate was needed or was a good idea. I'm just confused as to how the mayor of a city would be the one to decide this...
Careful Grr, your cockiness and know-it-all attitude is starting to make you sound like Joel.
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Im not saying i know it all, But the Interstate is partially federally funded, however i believe each state is responsible for its upkeep and how its run, and in that case if Hoeven was on board with Walaker than they could tell FEMA otherwise. I also believe FEMA only coordinates with state and local governments, not take over for them.
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DelSlow;269148 wrote:
You should neglect to comment on such basic things you have proven to have little knowledge ofI talked to a guy that knew a guy that was married to a girl that had a relative that knew a guy that worked for FEMA in '97 and he said thats what they were planning to do this time.
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The decision to close in-bound traffic was not Mayor Walaker's decision or idea. It was the FEMA's idea on what Fargo should do the day before the crest. During the closed door discussions with our city officials they(the city) pretty much said no way. We have gone this far and we aren't stopping now. It was a miscommunication between the DOT and the Federal officials that closed it down so all traffic could head westbound.
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DelSlow;269155 wrote:
It's my understanding that we aren't talking about Hoeven telling F.E.M.A. whats up; its Walaker I was wondering about.From what i read of that, Walaker did tell them, Because Governor Hoeven was on board with the fargo officials, which includes Walaker.
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Goodnbuzzd;269157 wrote:
From what i read of that, Walaker did tell them, Because Governor Hoeven was on board with the fargo officials, which includes Walaker."Mahoney said the governor and FEMA wanted the city to strongly consider a large evacuation."
Where does it say in this article that Hoeven and the Mayor were thinking the same thing or were 'on board' with each other?
Seriously, I don't see it.
To me, it sounds as If F.E.M.A. and the Gov. met with City Officials (Walaker included) to consider a large scale evac, and the City Officials (not just Walaker) said "Naw, we're good."
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DelSlow;269160 wrote:
"Mahoney said the governor and FEMA wanted the city to strongly consider a large evacuation."Where does it say in this article that Hoeven and the Mayor were thinking the same thing or were 'on board' with each other?
Seriously, I don't see it.
To me, it sounds as If F.E.M.A. and the Gov. met with City Officials (Walaker included) to consider a large scale evac, and the City Officials (not just Walaker) said "Naw, we're good."
YEP.....
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