Some of our friends outside the city limits of Minot have been fighting against flooding since April. Thankfully the Paulson family who we have been living with have not had much damage up to this point, some of their pastures were flooded but compared to others they were in a good place. But as large amounts of snow began to melt in Canada and they were seeing large amounts of rainfall, so were we, the dams were beginning to fill and had to release their excess water. Come Monday, June 21 the word went out that all residents in previous evacuation zones were required to begin to evacuate immediately and were to be out by the 22, at 6PM. Nathan went to work helping evacuate his bosses shop and some friends houses. But by 1 PM on June 22 the sirens sounded for immediate evacuation. Since then we have waited and watched as the river has risen to never before seen heights and has overtaken the dikes and consumed much of Minot. Approximately 1/3 of the town, around 12,000 people have been evacuated. The scenes are shockingly sad. We have had reports of friends who have seen their house on TV and only 2 to 3 feet of the house is above water. We have seen pictures of the shop and it is well in water. And the water level only continues to rise still. Just this morning did we start seeing a more dramatic increase in the river level at the Paulson's house. They had been clearing out their basement and working on getting farm animals relocated and they moved the rest of the animals this morning. We have been relocating cars and farm equipment to higher ground, not knowing just how high the water might possibly get. To see before and now pictures of the water at their farm check out their family blog: www.paulsonhomestead.blogspot.com
They also have pictures posted of friends of ours who live right down the road, their family has been dealing with water and flooding since April of this year, and they finally moved out yesterday knowing they could no longer save their homes.
We have watched the river level rise and creep higher into the yard little by little today but as of now we are still safe from the water at the Paulson's so we are staying put. There is still a small chance we may have to relocate temporarily to another friends house and there are roads still open at this point to get us to Minot but we are hoping to be able to stay here.
And again, we cannot praise the Lord enough for His provision in getting us out of our old home just 2 months prior to this flood. That house is well flooded at this point and being over 100 years old and gone through multiple floods we would be surprised if it will be salvageable after this flood recedes. That was only by the grace of God.
We appreciate your continued prayers. The river has yet to reach it's peak and the water will not be going away any time soon. There will be days, months and possibly even years of damage from this historic flood. Our hearts are breaking for those who have been severely affected and continue to pray for the Lord to protect their hearts through this time, that Christ would ultimately be glorified through this situation and many would come to know Him as their personal Lord and Savior.
And as of yet there is no baby born, she is content to stay in my belly. My main concern, other than watching to make sure a road stays open to get to the hospital is that there is a concern for a loss of water, sewer and power at the hospital. The Lord's timing is perfect, please pray that I would continue to keep my eyes on Him and put my trust in His perfect timing and plan for the birth of Janessa.
^ 3rd St, where the shop is located ^
^ front of the shop/ church meeting place/ apartments prior to flood ^
^ front of shop as of June 24th around noon ^
^ hwy 52, the highway we take to get from Minot to the Paulson's and our new property ^
^ an idea of how high the water is, notice the date was yesterday and the water has continued to rise since this picture was taken ^
^ aerial view ^
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