City crews began preliminary work on the “invisible” flood wall in downtown East Grand Forks along the Red River on Monday morning.
The river level was 28.59 feet in East Grand Forks as of 11:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Minor flood stage is 28 feet. Water does not reach the base of the wall along DeMers Avenue until the river level is 46.5 feet. All of the City’s action levels can be found on the City’s web site. A river rise of nearly seven feet on Sunday prompted City personnel to begin the downtown work earlier than scheduled.
The parking lot along the boardwalk area adjacent to the river was closed in order to allow crews to assemble materials for the flood wall. Typically, the wall takes 3-4 days to complete. Crews from both East Grand Forks and Grand Forks also began disassembling rail guards at both pedestrian bridges over the Red River.
The next action stage is at approximately 34 feet, when the City would close 4th Street NW under Gateway Drive. The National Weather Service on Monday afternoon projected a possible crest of 47-49 feet sometime early next week.