Flood fighters find humor again
Dennis Walaker became one of the flood victims this past week.

The Fargo operations manager wasn’t flooded. He was sandbagged by his own staff.

By Thursday, as the crisis dropped with the Red River, Walaker adopted a "happy-go-lucky" attitude, says one employee who did not want to be identified.

"He was feeling pretty good," the employee says. "We thought it was appropriate" to play a prank.

So when Walaker left work for the day, the employee and a few others returned to block Walaker’s parking spot at the street department with two dozen sandbags. They stuck a sign in it, telling him to keep out.

Walaker ignored the warning, driving over the bags in his white Ford Bronco. The employees, who acknowledge Walaker may already suspect them, took the mini-dike down Monday.

"The humor has started to creep back into the system," says Walaker.

He also was the target of a campaign at Pepper’s American Cafe, where employees set up a "Dennis Walaker Vacation Fund" over the weekend

Manager Troy Sundby didn’t have an exact count of donations dropped into the sealed jar.

Walaker says he can’t accept such a gift but will turn over the proceeds to charity.