I talked to my cousin's wife today. She told me she saw me on TV - one of the television interviews I've done recently (I don't remember which one). I haven't seen it. Or any of the others that I did. I hope I didn't embarrass myself too badly. [above - saturated photo of a ND flower]
I got an update on my aunt's situation. She was one of the people evacuated when a big chunk of the town of Burlington (near Minot) was evacuated, when the river overflowed the levies. She has been staying with a friend. Her neighbor took a photo of his house, and the water was up to the roof, so it doesn't look good for my aunt's house. She didn't have time to get everything out of the house, but managed to get some of her more valuable antiques. Much was left behind, however. And her son, my cousin Mick, who also was evacuated, thinks he has about a foot of water on the first floor of his house, so there may be significant damage there. I'm so sorry. This flood is unusual, in that the flooding is going on for so long. Usually the river rises quickly, and subsides quickly. That's not happening here. It could go on for quite awhile, they say. And already has.
I'm loving managing this DRC. I have a really good manager I'm working for. All the staff in my center have really good attitudes and are working well together; we're getting a lot of work done, but everyone is staying relaxed and not getting stressed out. The bank is bending over backwards to be helpful and accommodating. I probably have the nicest DRC facility in the country - and I'm not exaggerating. Most DRC facilities aren't in the nicest buildings, because we take what we can get on short notice, and often end up in free space that no one else wants. But in this case, we look west through large windows, down on a beautiful view of the Missouri river. (We're on second floor, and far enough from the river that we have no flooding worries.)
Most of our FEMA staff working in Minot are staying in a college dormitory because hotel rooms are so scarce; I'm told that some are sleeping on cots.
I'm fortunate in many ways.
I drive over the Missouri several times a day, getting from home to work and back. They say that before this flood the river bottom was only about 20 feet deep, but, the flood has dug so deep, that in places it's now over 100 feet deep. The good thing about that, is that it hasn't risen as high as projected here in the Bismarck area. Minot/Burlington wasn't as fortunate. You've probably heard on the national news that the river crested at record levels.
I got a fortune cookie recently that said: "The dark days are almost over; there is only joy ahead. I like that. Only joy ahead. I've kept that one.
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