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Well, honestly this is the first spring in many years that Grand Forks didn't have to do sand bags and concern themselves w/ the dyke. WE had a major flood in 97'....it was national news. Devils Lake has had ongoing issues yearly regarding the Lake...Fargo had flooding last year, and major flooding the year before. There are still in the middle of organizing a dyke system which has become a political situation regarding inclusion/exclusion within the protection of a dyke of neighboring communities. Williston had flooding last spring, which was the first time I had known it too flood there. Bismarck had flooding. I'll try to post a few resources regarding the various issues. Obviously if you are looking at flooded homes....you are aware there is a problem. There are certain areas in each community that have much less risk of flooding. The locals can tell you that....in Minot you'll still be able to see the evidence. I worked in Disaster related services for 3 yrs following our GF flood. I also had a flooded home. Lots of great hero stories...another time.. Just do some reading, research. Know the locations of rivers in the towns, the past flooding issues etc. There is usually overland flooding to contend w/ in N.D. too. This affects many folks in the rural areas....impassable roads, lengthy detours, hazardous conditions. It is something to consider for sure....but self education and visiting w/ locals you'll feel better about knowing what areas to avoid when purchasing. Cute little house you had in the pic.
Here is something to think about. North Dakota is a state full of caring, dig your feet in people. They stick together, they help their neighbors. If I were to be in a disaster again, I pray that it is among folks like North Dakotans.....
I am a meteorologist at NWS Grand Forks and we also in conjuction with the RFC in Chanhassen MN (Twin cities) issue river/flood forecasts (among many other things).
But the flooding issue along the Red River along the ND/MN border are not new in history. The Red River flows north and there is a gentle slope down as the river flows north toward Winnipeg and eventually into Hudson's Bay. The origins of the Red is Lake Traverse.... well actually the Red begins where the Bois de Sioux and and Ottertail rivers join in Wahpeton. Due to our long winters (most years) the river does freeze over and during the spring melt is subject to ice jams as the Red since it flows north is unusual in that the southern end usually melts first, water then spreads north onto still frozen chunks of the river. In years with minimal snow or a slow elongated melt then flooding is usually benign. From about 97 to now our region has been in a wet cycle as river flows have been usually high (when compared to history) and snowfall a bit above average in most years (not all). Thus with above average snow to melt along with already high flows in the rivers, you are subject to more flooding. 97, 06 and then 09-11 were bad years. After the 97 flood in Grand Forks-East Grand Forks, the corps along with the city/state proposed the current flood control levee system now in place for GF-EGF. It will protect to 60 ft. Fargo is in the process of getting funds for a diversion after 3 years of near misses in 09-11.
For Devils Lake, the lake has no natural outlet and has been rising since the wet cycle began in the mid 90s. It peaked last summer at 1454 ft and due to drier fall and winter, flows coming into it are way less than in the past few years and thus it will not rise this year and likely hold nr 1453. That is good news.... but due to the big rises of the lake in the past 15 years, many roads had to be built up and the city of Devils Lake levees are/have been raised. Works continues to raise more roads in the area, but luckily this year there has been a bit respite so they can try to catch up. They are working on more control outlet to let water drain out of Devils Lake slowly into the Sheyenne River, which is very controversial since the water in Devils Lake is not the same quality as the river water. The Sheyenne flows south through Valley City and Lisbon, which were hit hard by 09-10 flood and then flows to Fargo and into the Red. West Fargo has the Sheyenne diversion which helps them, but excessive high water flows in the Sheyenne if they got into the Red causes more headaches for Fargo and downstream interests.
For the other areas of the state, flooding has been until very recently way less of a concern due to a drought which took place in the early part of the 2000s. Thus river levels and sloughs were quite low 2000 to 2007. The last few winters, esp 09-11, were quite wet as compared to history and with upstream high amounts of snow along the Missouri in Montana and the Souris River in Sasketchewan, river flows were very high before the snow melt occurrred. Also in 2011, very heavy rainfall occurred north of the Minot and that all when into the Souris basin and had no where to go but south.
The Missouri is more controlled with many dams along the stretch from Montana into the Dakotas southward. Still with heavy precip and above snowfall in the mountains in 2010-11 there was a controlled flood in place along many stretches of the river, as dams couldnt hold all the water back.
The Little Missouri River out around Medora has had some flooding in the spring of 2011 due to heavy precip and snow melt...which is unusual for them as they are typically in a much drier part of the state.
As JanND mentioned, overland flooding is also an issue, especially in the flatter Red River valley part of the state as snow in the fields melts and then spreads out over farmland. This impacts rural areas not along the river channels. Most prone is areas around Fargo to Grand Forks northward into Pembina areas in the Red River valley.
To anybody who has some good feedback, my situation is similar robione. I am an out of work social worker, but am a former Marine who is very capable of physically intensive work. I currently live in Kansas City, MO but moved here from St. Petersburg, FL in November of last year in search of of better opportunities. I currently live with my Father and Mother in law in their basement, but have not had any opportunities that would really pay dividends for truly changing the life of my wife and children.
I want a job in the oil fields, though I have zero experience. I understand that starting as a floorhand on a rig is the entry level position. From what I have seen, in terms of advertising from companies for working on a rig, the money is fantastic, and I want to work on one very bed!!
I am searching for the American dream and coming to Williston seems to be the place to truly make that happen. Though I'm a Social Worker, and like I mentioned earlier, I am very capable of the physical end of this job, I just need the opportunity to prove it. With that said, any and all feedback is truly appreciated..... I have no place to live, sounds like I may need to rough it out in my car for now. My children live with my ex-wife, so I just need to worry about myself and current wife for now. Are there hotels and/or motels that allow extended stays? I hear about the mancamps, but I need a place for my wife to live, may she will need to stay behind while I come there and get settled in to start with.....
Well, all feedback is welcomed, and truly appreciated.... Thanks for all the informative posts I've already seen!!! Blessings....
What I would do is get my CDL Hauling crude, sand or water for fracking can be lucrative...And it looks like they are still hiring newbies. There are several trucking threads...along w/ several threads listing various oil field companies. I would look through the many threads here to get a whole picture. Here is one...You will find some company names. Cut and paste the links into your search engine, as many have broken. COMMUNITY JOB Links, Websites & resources:Add your's as you discover new resources... (12
If your wife can stay behind til you get the lay of the land so to speak....it might be easier. Unless you get hired by a company that has housing...I have recently seen that some companies are buying whole apartment buildings...and have family housing. You'll have to research that yourself depending on who hires you.
If not, you might consider renting in a town east of Devils Lake....then you could possibly go home on your days off. Hwy 2 from Williston takes you to Larimore, N.D, Grand Forks, N.D.,(5-6 hrs) East Grand Forks MN is right across the river from G.F., Fargo might be too far...Get your map qwest out, and you'll have a better chance of knowing what towns are near. They are building alot in the oil related area towns....but it may be a minute before there is adequate housing to meet the ongoing influx of oil related workers. Good luck to you.
It probably won't hurt to get your CDL but it's pretty unlikely you'll be hauling sand, water or crude. Most companies doing those hauls require at least 2 years of experience.
However, there are small O/O who are hiring drivers that still take newbies. And there are other service-type companies that might be willing to hire newbies too. Construction companies, like robione is (was?) working for, as an example.
Beyond that, he's looking at working for Schlumberger. They're a fracking company, which means they like their employees to have CDLs, even if they don't use them very often. Drivers haul equipment, not supplies like sand/water (at least, not at the moment). But other frack co.s, like Haliburton if I'm not mistaken, don't want you to already have a CDL as they don't want you to have any bad habits already. (FracTech and EFrac are two other frac companies I can think of off the top of my head)
To the rig hand dream: How old are you dwolf? If you have an ex-wife, kids and a new wife, I'm going to guess you're not in your early 20s, anymore...If you're still younger than 30, you have a pretty good chance. If you can get someone to talk to you, that is.
But if you're older than 35 or so, you're going to have a much harder time getting started on rigs... Just something to consider.
I've been giving some more thought to your quals, and I think you might also want to utilize your previous Social Work education....There are bound to be HR jobs available, or even Office Mgt jobs. I have seen that some are starting around 60,000. If you could get your housing worked out, or rent something here in Grand Forks for your family, and you live in oil field housing traveling on days off to your family. Course whatever you choose is up to you...just don't sell yourself short.
Many companies are expanding as this situation should last quite a few years if not decades. Experience is valuable to these companies, there are many folks to fill the braun jobs...Maybe you should capitalize on your education and previous experience w/in the people arena, as well as the Marines. Companies need PR, HR, Company Man, Land Man, Office Mgt....lots of areas to consider. Read several threads...there are folks living in North Dakota doing exactly what you hope to do, on this forum that have some good advice based on experience. Age isn't the factor that holds folks back imo...one of my favorite forum folks is retired Navy w/ GrandKids hired as a FracTech, for CalFrac Co. Now his wife and grandchild are in a new apartment in Minot. Good luck to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwolf7676
To anybody who has some good feedback, my situation is similar robione. I am an out of work social worker, but am a former Marine who is very capable of physically intensive work. I currently live in Kansas City, MO but moved here from St. Petersburg, FL in November of last year in search of of better opportunities. I currently live with my Father and Mother in law in their basement, but have not had any opportunities that would really pay dividends for truly changing the life of my wife and children.
I want a job in the oil fields, though I have zero experience. I understand that starting as a floorhand on a rig is the entry level position. From what I have seen, in terms of advertising from companies for working on a rig, the money is fantastic, and I want to work on one very bed!!
I am searching for the American dream and coming to Williston seems to be the place to truly make that happen. Though I'm a Social Worker, and like I mentioned earlier, I am very capable of the physical end of this job, I just need the opportunity to prove it. With that said, any and all feedback is truly appreciated..... I have no place to live, sounds like I may need to rough it out in my car for now. My children live with my ex-wife, so I just need to worry about myself and current wife for now. Are there hotels and/or motels that allow extended stays? I hear about the mancamps, but I need a place for my wife to live, may she will need to stay behind while I come there and get settled in to start with.....
Well, all feedback is welcomed, and truly appreciated.... Thanks for all the informative posts I've already seen!!! Blessings....
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