Fall Schedule and French Fries

Wow, it’s been so long since I last updated this thing. It’s been almost a month since I actually wrote a nice long post. All of this is too bad, too, because I really do have a few interesting things to talk about. First, let’s turn to the flood that I – in my own estimation – so beautifully chronicled in the previous three posts.

While the Red River Valley Flood of 2006 will go down as one of the top 10 (perhaps even top 5 in some locales) worst floods ever to occur as far as water levels are concerned, it likely won’t even crack the lists as being one of the top 10 costliest or most damaging floods of all time. Though the flood of 1997 was considerably devastating to hundreds of communities up and down the Red River Valley, it did have the effect of causing people to plan what actions they would take should a flood of similar proportions ever happen again. Additionally, the flood of 1997 forced not only those who lived in flood-prone homes to either abandon them altogether or relocate to a higher elevation but also cities to construct elaborate levees and/or dikes to protect their citizens. Case in point is Grand Forks’ and East Grand Forks’ elaborate levee system that was built using a mishmash of federal, state, and local dollars. The “hills” and walls that you could see surrounding the river in the pictures I posted below are two examples of the protection built as a result of 1997.

So, thanks to the measures taken after 1997, a very, very low number of structures were lost due to floodwaters during this year’s flood. Just about the only damage that the flood caused was to farm fields and country roads. And even then, quite a few farmers whose fields in the southern part of the Red River Valley were completely submerged in the beginning of April have since been able to plant this year’s crop thanks to how quickly the water has receded. That April this year has been consistently warm, sunny, and dry has also helped considerably with evaporation as well.

And that’s about all I’ll say about the flood. The next thing I wanted to discuss was my plans for the next school year, namely the fact that I registered for the upcoming fall semester last Tuesday. The classes I’ve chosen to take, as well as the official descriptions from the course catalog (since everyone loves to read those) are as follows:

Chemistry 341 – Organic Chemistry I (5 credits w/lab)
Designed for science and pre-professional students. Learn about structure and bonding, nomenclature, stereochemistry, functional groups, and spectroscopy (NMR, IR, MS) for structure determination.

Physics 251 – University Physics I (4 credits w/lab)
The University physics sequence is for students majoring in science and engineering. Topics normally covered in Phys 251 include Newtonian mechanics and gravitation, work and energy, rotationally dynamics, vibrations and waves, mechanics of solids and fluids, basic kinetic theory, equations of state and the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

German 307 – Third Year German I (3 credits)
Further improvement of the four language skills: listening, writing, reading, and speaking with thorough grammar review.

Atmospheric Sciences 110 – Meteorology I (4 credits w/lab)
Elements of the atmosphere with emphasis on those processes that affect the global atmospheric circulation.

So all of those courses add up to 16 credit hours, which is a little deceiving since I will actually have about 21 hours of class time per week once you figure in the 7 hours of labs that go along with all my science classes. As far as time goes, my classes will be laid out like this:

8:00-8:50 Organic Chemistry (M, T, W, F)
9:00-9:50 Physics (M, T, W, F)
11:00-11:50 German (M, W, F)
12:30-14:30 Meteorology Lab (T)
15:00-18:00 Organic Chemistry Lab (W)
18:00-19:15 Meteorology 1 (T, Th)
19:00-20:50 Physics Lab (W)

The biggest problem I will have will be with organic chemistry. I so do not want to have a class at 8 AM, much less one that meets 4 days per week. But, there isn’t anything I can do, since o-chem is only offered at 8 AM and, from what I can tell, it will always only be offered at that time. From what I have gathered, it’s been at 8 AM for the last few years from now. And it’s always held in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus, the one in the chemistry building that seats upwards of 200 people.

In taking Third Year German, I’ll be well on my way toward getting a minor in the language, something I wish to obtain by the time I end my junior year and have spent a summer at the Universität Regensburg (which I intend to do next year). Regensburg, by the way, is about 60 miles north of München (Munich) in Bayern (Bavaria). Ich würde auch nicht nur in Regensburg den ganzen Sommer bleiben, denn das Sommerprogramm, das UND mit der Uni-Regensburg herstellte, gibt man mehrere Gelegenheiten, nach vielen anderen deutschen Städten zu fahren. Ich könnte wahrscheinlich auch München, Berlin und Frankfurt sehen.

I did have a bit of a scare in registering for German, however, since I almost had to forgo taking it in order to be in physics at 11. It’s a long story, but what happened was, there was originally going to be two sections of Physics 251 – one with class at 9 and the other with class at 11. For whatever reason, the professor who was going to teach the 9 o’clock class bowed out, and the lecture was canceled. That left 11 o’clock as being the only time anybody could take Physics 251.

But then more people started to sign up for the 11 o'clock class than could be accommodated for with just one section, and another one, this time once again at 9, was created. Of course, my German professor, whom I had previously discussed the problem regarding scheduling with, was very pleased that I would be able to continue on with studying German. He even put in a good word with the professor who teaches German 307, saying that I was one of the best students in his German 202 class.

This brings me to the end of my discussion concerning registering for the fall semester. Something I want to talk about in an upcoming post would be the two field trips I took this past week as part of the Introduction to Chemical Engineering class that I’m currently in. On Tuesday, we headed over to the J.R. Simplot potato processing plant in the northern part of Grand Forks. I actually got to see hundreds (probably even thousands) of pounds of french fries being produced right in front of my eyes. Though the plant was making was making the thick, crinkle type of fries under its own brand name when I visited, the Grand Forks plant produces french fries and other fried potato products for businesses all over the U.S. and the world. Actually, earlier on the day we visited, hashbrowns for the Japanese market were being produced. Meanwhile, on Thursday, we went to go look at the Energy & Environmental Research Center, an interesting private-sector research & development firm that is actually a part of UND.

Last Flood Pictures

Here is my last batch of flood photos, taken this last weekend. All of the pictures show the extent of flooding in both the Fargo/Moorhead area as well as north of Grand Forks, near Oslo, MN and Ardoch, ND. In all cases, the four-lane divided highway you see in the bottom few pictures is Interstate 29. When I took the photos in Fargo, the Red River was at 34.28 feet, down from its crest of 37.18 feet, which was the 5th highest crest in Fargo's history.

More Flood Pictures

I'm a little late with these, but here is another round of flood pictures that I took last Thursday, the 6th, right as the river neared 47.70 feet, down just a tiny amount from its crest of about 47.85 feet. I don't know what the official crest level was, but, no matter what, the flood of 1996 will have the 6th highest crest in Grand Forks' history. I don't believe any homes in the Grand Forks or East Grand Forks areas were lost, which shows just how good of a job the floodwalls and levees built after 1997 did in protecting the two cities. I actually have even more flood photos to post after these, since I took a trip north of Grand Forks and south of Grand Forks - to Fargo/Moorhead - this weekend and checked out the flooding in both those locales. Look for these other photos to be posted sometime either today or tomorrow. Once again, also look for captions to be added to some of these photos when I have the time to do so.

Flood Pictures

As promised, I walked the one and a half miles (one way) down to the river today to get some pictures of the flooding. My legs and feet may not like me in the morning, but I had a fun time, particularly since today was such a nice day - with the sun shining and the temperature close to 50 - to go on a walk. I wish I had a pedometer or something to know for sure, but I figure I have probably walked about 4-5 miles in total today. I feel great!

Anyway, my photos are posted below. If you'd like to view all the photos in a single Imageshack gallery, click here. Otherwise, just click on the thumbnails below to see the larger version. I don't have any captions right now, but I should sometime in the future. Most of the photos speak for themselves though, so captions aren't really necessary for all of them.

Oh yeah, I should probably write that Grand Forks should be well protected for this flood. The water is predicted to only rise a few more inches from what you see in the photos, and the floodwalls and levees in Grand Forks still have plenty of room to spare in letting the water push higher. East Grand Forks is in a bit of a worse situation, since its floodwalls are shorter than the ones in Grand Forks. Still, that city should also be secure during this flood.

Flood Watch

If there was one thing that nobody in the Grand Forks area wanted to happen this spring, it would have been to have a quick snowmelt followed by a large quantity of rain. When both of these events occur in tandem, the Red River of the North tends to flood. Now, granted, the Red River floods to some extent every spring just because that how nature operates, but the worst floods usually occur when the spring thaw progresses rapidly and is accompanied by spring downpours. Having a lot of the winter snowfall on the ground in March doesn’t make matters any better, either.

Unfortunately for the many communities situated along the Red River, nature unleashed pretty much everything it could to ensure that the flood of 2006 would be one of the worst. Unlike many other places in Minnesota, the areas around Grand Forks, Fargo, and Pembina got quite a bit of snow during the winter – more than would be expected during a typical winter. In addition, the majority of the snow that fell remained on the ground during January, despite that fact that this past January was the warmest ever for both North Dakota and Minnesota. The wealth of snow was combined with a colder than average March, which then contributed to most of the Red River valley retaining its snow cover for much later in March than would be ordinarily expected. In fact, there was at least one inch of snow covering the ground here in Grand Forks until about last Thursday, the 30th. The Grand Forks Herald reported that the area had become some 2 weeks behind in its snowmelt; barring any major snowstorms in the middle of March, all of the snow would have ordinarily molten by about the first day of spring.

Last Thursday, however, an early “April shower” came to the area and not only dumped over an inch of rain in some spots, but sped up the melting process that had already been intensified by the previous day’s high temperatures near 50°F. The Red River and the many smaller rivers and creeks that flow into it immediately became overwhelmed with all the water and started to flood.

So that’s where the area is at now. Based on the National Weather Service’s crest predictions as well as what is happening in the southern – and therefore downstream, since the water flows north – part of the Red River Valley near Breckenridge, MN and Wahpeton, ND, the flood of 2006 will no doubt go down as one of 10 worst to ever occur since records began. Fortunately, there is a less of a chance that the flood will be as destructive at the infamous flood of 1997 that decimated many cities throughout the valley.

As with all of the other cities in the area, Grand Forks has a listing of what will happen when the water in the river reaches specific points. There’s a lot of Grand Forks jargon on the list, but I thought I would post it anyway just so that you can see how the flood is currently affecting the city.

60.0 Top of levee constructed by Corps of Engineers for City of Grand Forks.
54.4 Record flood level. 22 April 1997...from floodmarks.
53.0 TOP OF RAILS ON Burlington northern santa fe Rail Road BRIDGE OVER THE RED RIVER.
50.1 WATER ON GATEWAY DRIVE AT THE KENNEDY BRIDGE.
50.0 RAILROAD BRIDGES BECOME INOPERATIVE.
49.9 TOP ELEVATION OF public law 99 EMERGENCY DIKE IN EAST GRAND FORKS.
48.7 WATER ON DEMERS AVE AT THE SORLIE BRIDGE.
48.0 TOP ELEVATION OF public law 99 DIKE IN RIVERSIDE PARK AREA.
46.0 Major Flood Stage. Begin road closure on Sorlie Bridge...DeMers Av.
45.0 Begin road closure to Riverside Park. WATER ON MILL ROAD AT THE ENGLISH COULEE.
44.9 AGRICULTURAL DAMAGE BEGINS AT RIVER MILE 271-296. WATER ON EAST GRAND FORKS APPROACH TO POINT BRIDGE.
43.7 CLOSE MILL ROAD AT ENGLISH COULEE BRIDGE.
42.2 WATER ON LEWIS BLVD AT THE KENNEDY BRIDGE.
42.0 Begin road closure to Riverside Park.
41.0 Close flood gates on English Coulee and activate pump station.
40.0 Moderate Flood Stage. Extensive flooding in greenway for Grand Forks.
38.0 Begin closing flood gates in Grand Forks and activate strom water pumping stations.
34.0 East Grand Forks Water problems at HWY 2 around 4th St underpass.
33.0 Agricultural Flooding between Oslo and Grand Forks. AGRICULTURAL DAMAGE BEGINS AT RIVER MILE 271 - 296.
28.0 Flood Warning Stage...minor. Bankfull Stage.
27.0 Forecast Service Stage.

Per The National Weather Service, the water level of the Red River at Grand Forks is currently 46.03 feet – past the point at which “major flooding” occurs. The river is predicted to crest at 47 feet on Thursday morning, which would be the 6th highest crest in Grand Forks’ history, right between those of 1882 and 1996. As far as property is concerned, everything in the immediate Grand Forks and East Grand Forks vicinity should be safe – the levees constructed in the wake of the 1997 will protect Grand Forks up to 60 feet and East Grand Forks up to 50 feet without any added sandbags. Not all places will be as lucky, however, since there are a lot of houses in very precarious positions as islands onto themselves down in the Fargo area.

I plan on heading toward downtown – about a mile and a half from campus – tomorrow afternoon. I’ll play the role of journalist, trying to take as many pictures as possible. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be able to see, but I will be sure to share anything interesting.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures – one I took, the rest I didn’t:

This is a picture I took at the downtown park next to the river in Grand Forks. I've highlighted what is approximately 47 feet, the level that the river is expected to crest at on Thursday. The bridge in the background already has water up to the bottom of it and has been closed to traffic.


From the Fargo Forum,
Adam Berthelot, 6, of Fargo looks on Saturday as Vince Luchau, 15, left, and Brady Kemmer, 15, fish the Red River from Elm Street in north Fargo. Flood waters forced the city to close the road. ©Darren Gibbins / The Forum


From the Fargo Forum,
This photo taken Saturday south of Ada looks northwest along Minnesota Highway 9 and the bridge in the treeline of the flooding Wild Rice River. ©Rod Syverson / Special to The Forum


From the Fargo Forum,
Floodwaers from the Red River rush over closed Wall Street, between north Moorhead and Oakport Township Monday, April 3, 2006. ©Bruce Crummy / The Forum


From a Fargo Forum reader,
Ryan and Gregg Hanson boat across an underwater township road near the James Hanson Farm near Hickson, ND. Roads leading to the Hanson farm are under water requiring the use of a boat.


From a Fargo Forum reader,
This picture was taken yesterday, 04/02, south of Horace and just a little south of 46. We saw this herd of 14 deer crossing a flooded field. They were pretty tired once they found 'dry' land.


From the Grand Forks Herald,
Sightseers in downtown Grand Forks checkout the marker that notes historic flood levels Monday afternoon. The marker is on the west bank of the Red River and shows the flood level approaching the 1996 crest. Later Monday night, the Red River surpassed the 1996 crest level. ©John Stennes


From the Grand Forks Herald,
The Kennedy Bridge over the Red River between Grand Forks (top) and East Grand Forks (bottom) is the only bridge open Monday after the other two bridges between the two towns were closed because of high water and flood preparations. ©John Stennes