Kindred officials declare a state of emergency

Cousin's Elecia Soderberg and Jamie Thronson made it through last year's flood, high and dry.

JAMIE THRONSON/NEW KINDRED RESIDENT: "We lived in Fargo last year and it's kind of like, think it's a once in a lifetime thing. Unfortunately it seems to be happening twice in a row!"

Their new lives, with a boyfriend and fiancé, brought them here, to Kindred. Tonight, along with 40 new and long-time residents, their angst about flooding in a new area was top of mind.

ELECIA SODERBERG/NEW KINDRED RESIDENT: "I think we'll be OK where we're at, but just, it's a concern."

JAMIE: "Just want to be in the know about what's going on."

The council approved a resolution to allow the Corps. of Engineers to aid the city this spring, and started their push for volunteers.

BOB CLARKE/KINDRED MAYOR: "Not only sandbagging but for folks that can't do that for you know making food for the volunteers, which is a huge part of sandbagging operations."

The community's biggest challenge isn't even within city limits: instead, outlying areas like the south side of town's flood barrier, Highway 46.

CLARKE: "It washed out last year and that's kind of our natural flood barrier that we have that keeps a lot of it on the south side of it. But last year a culvert broke and washed a very large hole in the highway and so that's what kind of scared Davenport last year."

With all the necessary steps in place, officials, new and seasoned residents all hope that these plans will stop any major harm in their small community this spring. City officials also kept a very detailed diary of all the events and preparations from last year to better help them this year.

They city has not started sandbagging yet, they'll decide that in the next week. Right now, they have 85-thousand bags that are ready to be filled and a storage area on the south side of town to keep them.

Tags: your city, stephanie goetz, north dakota, flood, kindred, news