WEST FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – Volunteers on day one at Sandbag Central made good progress on the County’s goal of filling 200,000 sandbags for the 2023 flood fight, filling nearly 40,000 bags. Cass County Engineer Jason Benson said 400 volunteers, including students from Ben Franklin Middle School, logged almost 900 volunteer hours Tuesday.
Sandbag Central is in a new location this year. With the highest temporary flood mitigation need now in the rural areas of Cass County rather than Fargo-proper thanks to the city’s new permanent flood protection construction, the county’s Highway Department headquarters on Main Avenue in West Fargo near the fairgrounds was selected as the best place from which to fill and distribute sandbags.
“It’s been a great collaboration with the cities of Fargo and West Fargo and the county,” Benson said. “Now we just need volunteers to keep showing up – especially Friday, pretty much all afternoon and evening from noon until 7:00 p.m., we’ve got a lot openings.”
Benson said with snow melting fast, some Cass County residents are going to need sandbags sooner than they anticipated.
“We know there’s gonna be a lot of demand this weekend with warmer temperatures, some rural residents will need to start placing sandbags around their property based on the flood conditions along the Maple and Sheyenne rivers,” he said.
Benson said 80,000 of the 200,000 sandbags will be dedicated for the city of Fargo and 5000 for West Fargo. The remaining 115,000 sandbags will be for Cass County, 15,000 of which will be put in reserve for unanticipated emergency needs in rural areas. He said Cass County has deliveries already scheduled for 35,000 sandbags on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, many going to areas northwest of Fargo, near Harwood and Argusville.
Citizens 14-years-old and older who are interested in volunteering are encouraged to visit casscountynd.gov/volunteer to sign up for a shift, but Benson said Sandbag Central also accepts walk-in volunteers.
