Calming elementary students' fears of flood waters

She's not even in fourth grade yet, but already, Rachel Erickson has had to experience the worst Mother Nature can hurl at a community.

RACHEL ERICKSON/KENNEDY ELEMENTARY STUDENT: "It flooded the entire floor. It was, um, it was going up our first step. If it went to the top, the whole city of Fargo would be in trouble!"

Erickson was one of many families stranded, taken by airboats from her Oxbow home last spring.

RACHEL: "Yeah I was like, 'I do not want to leave!' "

She wasn't alone in her concerns, today inside Kennedy Elementary, a rush of questions and answers to those inquiries to calm the fears about flooding. One of the best in the weather business: State Climatologist Adnan Akyuz (ADD-NON ACCUSE).

ADNAN AKYUZ/STATE CLIMATOLOGIST: "More they know about flood, the less fearful they will become."

Eager, inquisitive students like Erickson watched Akyuz show how a flood happens, what it actually is, and how to protect themselves.

"Let's take the snow and make sure we put it inside the river."

AKYUZ: "We all talk about flood. Media coverage talks about flood, but did we ever talk to our kids that they shouldn't be fearful?"

RYAN GU/KENNEDY ELEMENTARY STUDENT: "I really don't like floods, but it's just a natural disaster so I don't think we can actually stop it, but we can help ourselves by sandbagging."

RACHEL: "How long does a flood actually last? But my prediction is probably like a day or a week."

Each question was meticulously answered by Akyuz to hopefully give these youngsters peace of mind this flood season.

Tags: reporter stories, k-12 education, stephanie goetz, flood, ndsu, fargo