Moorhead prepares for flood season

The National Weather Service Forecast indicates there is a 50% chance of about a 35 foot flood

MOORHEAD, Minn — Flood season in Fargo-Moorhead is about to begin.

The Red River is at 15.98 feet, but that number is expected to rise to a major flood staging.

“The weather service forecast indicates a 50% chance of about a 35 foot flood, 5-10% chance of 38-39 feet,” said Moorhead city engineer Bob Zimmerman.

To give a better idea of what that will look like, people in the area can think back 2019 when the probabilities for flooding were around nearly the same.

“It is really similar to last year,” says Zimmerman. “Maybe even a little bit lower than last year, but very comparable.”

This year, the city of Moorhead is even more prepared than it has been in the past as they work on completing infrastructure projects that will combat flooding.

“Since last year, we have acquired about 25 properties on the north side of town. We started a levee project. Construction there is not finished yet, but we are working toward a pretty large project in that area,” added Zimmerman.

“That project is really the last area of the city comprehensibly that hasn’t been addressed, but it will be a big addition to all of the other infrastructure that has been constructed.”

The city is also prepared with sandbags.

At the current projections, Moorhead is not expected to need any sandbags, but there are approximately 30,000 left over from 2019 in heated storage contingency in the case of a forecast uncertainty or emergency response.

Moorhead is encouraging people to go to the cityofmoorhead.com for the most up-to-date flood information.