Residents of Southwood Drive in south Fargo were working frantically early Monday to protect their homes against the rising waters of the Red River. It was through extensive student participation in this area that many homes had adequate dike systems, as long as the pumps could get rid of the seepage.
The diking in this area was concentrated around individual homes, with dikes from five feet to ten feet high.
Some members of the Bison football squad were working for Northern Improvement at a rate of $2.25 per hour loading and laying sandbags, but the majority of workers were on a strictly volunteer status. When asked who sent them to Southwood, most volunteers were vague, some saying they just came out of their own accord.
Rocco Troiano, Bison gridder, said that a number of players from Stockbridge Hall had been contacted by their coaches.
Streets in Southwood Drive had traffic signs sticking out of a pool of waist-deep water. On one of the circle drives on Southwood, only a small island of land in the center of the circle drive was visible at 7 a.m.
Monday morning Dr. Ralph Weible was making a determined effort to save his house at 501 Southwood Drive. It was one of the most beleaguered areas in Fargo.
Using volunteer workers from the local high schools and from NDSU, Weible was diking against the surrounding flood waters of the Red as they creeped up on the house on all four sides.
Pumps used to clear the area of water between the dike and the house caused some problems, but it seems there was a good chance of protecting much of the house as long as the pumps were kept operative.
Mrs. Vincent Fager, whose son was working at the Weible residence, said, "These kids look tired. My son has been working here since 10 p.m. last night, and I guess he's not ready to leave yet." Her son is a student at Shanley High School.
People were sleeping on makeshift beds of mattresses, blankets and pillows in the Weible house, as volunteers stayed all night long working to protect the house.
Workers were quite willing to work, and morale seemed to be at a high level during the early morning hours.
Jack Cosgriff, local resident helping Dr. Don Brown man his pumps, said the students "did an exceptionally fine job in building dikes in this whole Southwood Drive area. Probably our only problem right now is to keep those pumps working."
"We have had no real problems obtaining manpower in this area," said Jack Akre, Southwood Drive resident. "It has been just fantastic and there have been no problems as far as getting workers down here yet."
"I would say that we have had over 500 students, both high school and college, working in this area since last Thursday."