I've been in the Fargo area a couple of times, but didn't pay enough attention o terrain. I've heard it is an ancient lakebed of huge proportions, very flat, so the water spreads out for miles, not just in close proximity to the actual river channel.
I do recall some people were told to build on stilts, with maybe garage or such under the house if they were going to stay in certain flood prone areas after the last big flood.
It seems the area of usual flooding is almost the length of ND, from SD to Canada, and some distance to the west, and east into MN.
The floods in western ND, Bismark/Mandan area, has been due to ice jams above and below Bismark, on the Missouri River. There is considerably rougher terrain and probably better drainage along the Mo. drainage area. They also had extreme snow levels this past winter. Over 84 inches of snow for the winter, prior to storms in March.
Flooding in such extreme cold and for prolonged time spans as those slow moving floods in the Red River Valley, has to be one of the worst natural disasters for the people to endure, IMO.
Our small, by general comparison at least, floods in western SD are more like flushing a giant toilet, in that the water goes fast and can cause lots of damage, but doesn't stay high for very long.
mrj
