Photos: Fargo's 'Sandbag Central' volunteers reflect on flood fight

Isaac Samuelson
Isaac Samuelson, 14, of Horace, N.D., was one of 4,103 middle and high schools students who volunteered to make sandbags at Sandbag Central in 2013. "I just think it's fun," said the eighth-grader, who missed two days of school to volunteer. Samuelson's house is protected from Sheyenne River flooding thanks to a permanent diversion channel.
Photo by Ann Arbor Miller for MPR

Certainties are few when it comes to springtime in the Red River Valley. While the rising Red River will make history for latest crest, the official crest forecast for the Red at Fargo-Moorhead is 34 feet — quite a bit lower than previous forecasts which had prompted flood fighters to stockpile 1.7 million sandbags.

More than 8,350 volunteers put in 43,971 hours over 16 days at Fargo's Sandbag Central to churn out those sandbags. Photographer Ann Arbor Miller asked volunteers working at Sandbag Central last week for their insight on flood season. Volunteers wrote their thoughts on an empty sandbag with a black marker.

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