Officials begin to look ahead for spring flooding

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - We’ve had above average of snowfall in most areas this year, and although it still feels like winter, the snow has to go somewhere eventually.

It is officially spring, which means the temperatures are expected to rise, which means the snow piles will melt down, which will in turn lead to flooding season.

Nathan Boerboom, Division Engineer for the City of Fargo said they’re already looking ahead at a busy spring.

“Right now we are in kind of the mode of kind of preparing for whatever the spring flood may entail for us,” Boerboom said.

The division is currently ensuring they have plans in place for the entire city no matter what happens.

“We are busy looking at our various flood fighting plans for a multitude of various river crest level,” Boerboom said. “And whenever the spring melt does start to occur and we get a deterministic forecast from the national weather service, then we’ll be prepared to implement whatever plan we may need to do.”

And they’re not the only ones looking ahead. Local plumbers, like Johnathan Ferry, Service Manager at Legacy Plumbing, are expecting some long days in the near future.

“We are anticipating a pretty heavy volume of sump pump related calls coming in,” Ferry said.

Ferry said because the snow continues to come down so frequently, he’s expecting a quick turn around to flooding season.

“What’s going to end up happening is we’re going to get increased temperatures a lot quicker, so it’s going to create more of a rapid melt, and probably create a lot more need for emergency sump pump calls,” Ferry said.

Ferry said they’re already booking appointments with customers to check the status of their sump pumps and pipes to try to stay ahead of the flooding. He says that’s important for homeowners.

“Be prepared,” Ferry said. “Be proactive, not reactive.”

Both Boerboom and Ferry encourage residents to pay attention to media and city alerts as flooding season approaches. They also encourage homeowners to make sure the hoses and piping outside are cleared of snow sooner rather than later.

The City of Fargo has developed a detailed plan to address flooding which can be found on their website.