Ok this one seems to allow me to make a comment. I would love to know what I did wrong before.

Yeah, we were lucky (sort of) in Grand Forks. We had a tremendous response from FEMA, the Red Cross and other helping agencies. Of course, this was the Clinton FEMA, and these poor folks now have the Bush FEMA. Unless you have gone through something like this, it is very difficult to understand that when your entire city is evacuated, there is really no place to go. And getting back into what is left of your home is when the real tragedy starts. I was watching the news footage where people were starting to empty out their homes. That was probably the hardest thing to watch, because so little is salvageble. Needless to say, it really sucks.

The one really positive thing is our community really did pull together and I hope that this happens now.

BTW has anyone ever gotten the message that their post is too long (50 character max)? When this shows up I cannot post anything.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks. Oh and yes it is wonderful to see a couple of other MN people here. I guess I am repping northern MN. Although I may not be quite representative of this area. I picked a very conservative area to live. I am not quite in the Range, but close enough to be kind of jealous. LOL, someday I hope to get further over to the Northeast angle.

In regards to your rude comments....it is simplistic. This isn't rocket science.

Rivers flood, otherwise there would be no farmland. The earth is a continuous cycle of replenishment and rebirth. People who choose to live on a flood plain know the risks involved. This isn't a phenomenon which was unexpected like a tornado.

Doing man made things to control the flow of water exacerbates the problem. I saw a report of how a man made lake in Wisconsin dried up. Basically the water went over a highway and it drained itself contributing to the flooding. I saw homes falling into a lake as the water rushed by it taking the soil right along with it. I wonder if it was the same lake. Building a home on a levy does not seem smart. Now those people have no land and no house.

We saw the same thing in New Orleans after Katrina. Man contributed to the devastation by building communities on land which would have offered a natural barrier to the flooding and tried to control the flow of water with a man made barrier. These are disasters which can be avoided or least reduced in devastation.

It may sound cold, but it is not like people don't know these things. City planners, builders, insurance companies, homeowners, local, state, and federal governments all know it.

Yes it is wonderful to lend a helping hand to communities and save lives and property. At what point will the federal government stop funding disasters and the rebuilding and tell people to get out of the flood plain. The farmland is one thing, but to keep rebuilding disaster-prone communities is foolhardy.

What I find naive is to say this is related to global warming. It's Spring. Spring tends to be a period where some of the most volatile weather occurs. If the area was in a drought and the rivers and lakes were drying up a reasonable person may conclude global warming could be the cause.

There is a weather system stalled over the area. The southern plains states experienced a similar weather system in May and June last year. Some places experienced as much as 45 days of rain in varying amounts in a two month period.

You know that was rude and I apologize. I guess in a way I agree with you, but thought that was self evident in the diary when I tried to preface my comments, with words from some of the smartest people I know, Native Americans. They knew not to live near the river in the spring and the thought white people were crazy for building their cities by the river.

That said, I also think that your comments make the point I was trying to make. You call it Global Warming. That is a complete misnomer. It is really called Global Climate Change for a reason. I'll even give you that (just for arguments sake) these floods are not caused by GCC, but can you deny something is happening to the earth? I do understand that the earth has been around for a very long time and events far worse than we are experiencing have occurred time and time again. I enjoy reading about these thing, but am no expert. However, I think that the consensus is now that what is occurring now is unprecedented as it has been caused by human activity. Now I live on a lake in the middle of the woods and I take very close notice of the weather. It is changing and has been for a while. I wish I could find a site that is not bullshit on either side of the argument. Finally, I would be happy to talk to you again if you have anything further to say.