From this valley, they say you are going

This morning, I had to double check the radio station. I've been trying to reduce my stress levels and have been listening to music in the morning. More music, less news radio makes for a more joyful Me. I was pretty sure I had it on the pop music station but they were covering lots of news stories.

If you haven't heard, we are preparing for record flooding here in MN. Where I am at in the Twin Cities, we are fine. But further northwest, in the Red River Valley, they are expecting the river to crest at 43ft, the highest level in over a century. The expected level seems to go up by about 2ft every day.

People have come in from all over the Northern Plains and even farther. Bus loads of high school and college students have gone up day after day to fill sand bags and build up the dikes. In about a month from now, bus loads of people will again trek up to Fargo/Moorhead to do clean up.

The cresting of the river is just one part of the tragedy that is about to befall these people. Once the river finally crests, they expect that it will stay at that level for 3 to 4 weeks before beginning to recede. Then the real work will begin.

There is a 215ft crack in an earthen dike. More than 150 homes have been ordered to evacuate. There are ambulances running back and forth evacuating hospitals, hospice care and elder care centers. Schools have been closed. Anyone who can't evacuate quickly is being urged to leave now -- families with small children, the elderly, etc.

It's supposed to crest sometime tomorrow.

As you go to bed tonight, secure in your home and warm in your bed, take a moment and think of these people and say a prayer for them. Tomorrow, their homes may be gone.

For more info, see NPR article.