Red River Has Peaked, Experts Say

(AP)  The bloated Red River apparently crested Saturday, forecasters said, leaving residents to wearily hope their sandbag-fortified dikes continue to hold back record-setting floodwaters.

North Dakota officials still intensified their efforts to fend off the high water. They deployed high-tech Predator drone aircraft, called up more National Guard troops and asked residents to be on the lookout for breaches in levees.

Thousands of residents had left their homes.

Officials also cautioned that the city still wasn't out of the woods because the river is expected to stay more than 20 feet above flood stage for several days, testing the strength and integrity of the hastily assembled dikes.

Mike Hudson of the weather service said the Red River may already have reached its high point around midnight at 40.82 feet. As of 8 a.m. it had dropped to around 40.69 feet. But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot, given that ice floes affect the flow of the river and could lead to periodic rises.

The weather service earlier had said the Red River could crest as high as 43 feet, likely on Sunday. But forecasters put out an alert Saturday saying the river is expected to remain below 41 feet and to slowly abate.

"The best news we can take from this is the river has crested," Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said.

"But diligence is going to have to be required for at least eight more days and hopefully things will continue to drop," he added. "The only thing that would change all that optimism would be to have a significant storm that could change that. I'm optimistic."

The improved situation is a result of the frigid weather: Cold temperatures froze the water that would have flowed into the river, halting its rise, said Hudson. By the time that water thaws, the biggest flooding threat should have passed, he said.

Forecasters acknowledged that the situation could still take a turn for the worse, with a storm predicted to strike early next week with more snow.

No major levee breaches or other issues were reported during the night.

Officials said they were increasing the number of guard troops from 1,700 to 1,850 and bringing in 300 large bags that hold a ton of sand and could be dropped by helicopter into breaks in the levees.

Predator drones from the Grand Forks Air Force Base began flying overhead Saturday morning, providing officials bird's-eye views of the situation and allowing them to react quickly if flooding worsens.

"They will be up there for 10 hours today providing video of the flood situation," North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven said in an interview with The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama assured the nation Saturday he was keeping close watch on the floods and putting the government's full weight behind efforts to prevent disaster.

"Even as we face an economic crisis which demands our constant focus, forces of nature can also intervene in ways that create other crises to which we must respond - and respond urgently," the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

Across the river, the city of Moorhead, Minn., also was dealing with the threat of heavy flooding. Thousands of people had evacuated the city of 30,000, although others have stayed behind.

"Right now we're confident, but if the dikes break we'll have people standing on their roofs," said Clay County, Minn., Sheriff Bill Bergquist.

Officials in Fargo, a city of 92,000 people, said Saturday they didn't immediately need any more volunteers.

"Now it's time to stand and defend," said Tim Mahoney, a Fargo city commissioner.

Volunteers had piled sandbags on top of miles of snow-covered dikes, with the frigid weather freezing the bags solid as they worked.

(AP/Chris Polydoroff, Pioneer Press)

Two people died of apparent heart attacks from the exertion of preparing for the flood, said the North Dakota Department of Health. About 50 flood-related injuries have been reported statewide.

Hundreds more Guard troops poured in from around the state and neighboring South Dakota, along with scores of American Red Cross workers from as far away as Modesto, Calif. Homeowners, students and small armies of other volunteers filled sandbags. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Saturday his state's National Guard was sending two C-130 aircraft with at least 34 troops to help.

"It's to the point now where I think we've done everything we can," said Fargo resident Dave Davis, whose neighborhood was filled with backhoes and tractors building an earthen levee. "The only thing now is divine intervention."

Federal officials were prepared to shelter and feed 30,000 people for a week, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. More people than that may be evacuated, but she said officials expect most people would seek help through friends and family first. She said the Coast Guard had participated in 82 rescues by Friday.

Fargo escaped devastation from flooding in 1997, when Grand Forks was ravaged by a historic flood 70 miles to the north. This year, the river has been swollen by heavier-than-average winter snow, combined with an early freeze last fall that locked a lot of moisture into the soil. The threat has been made worse by spring rain.

"I think the river is mad that she lost the last time," said engineer Mike Buerkley, managing a smile through his dark stubble as he tossed sandbags onto his pickup truck after working 29 straight hours.

[ndg1979]

My thoughts and prayers go out to these U.S. citizens as they struggle to save their homes, their towns and their lives. My congratulations to the leadership needed to produced millions of sandbags and rein in order amongst chaos.

I would like to expand on a point made by "piercetheval". Why would any builder in California want to fight to build a home in an area prone to natural disaster? Why build in California - period? California has flooding concerns, widlfires and earthquakes. It sits on a fault line and science has even considered the slim possibility that a sizable and extensive series of earthquakes could cause the fault line to crack, possibly sending California into the Pacific. So why is a home over a major fault line worth millions of dollars? It isn't. And if California was to suffer such a catastrophe (heaven forbid), what would that under the sea home be worth then?

Some people say that is "prime real estate". Someone needs to logically and realistically define "PRIME" when it comes to real estate.

I hope the best for these flood ravaged cities and hope that they have all the help they could possibly need.

[piercetheval]

...the omitted word to the text below was d-i-k-e-s...get real CBS!

[piercetheval]

...so remember the Red River Valley, and the one who has loved you so true!

...Yeah, here in No. Calif. we have predatory developers who want to build around our antiquated ***** in flood plains....claiming that by putting restrictions on there designs to build because of a "Once in a Hundred years possibility" we are denying them some sort of constitutionally guaranteed pusuit of happiness and being selfish with our State and resources by denying new homes to be builtand occupied by newcomers ...truly, people should know what they are getting into as to where they choose to live...for example: Would you build a home on the side of Mt. Rainer or Mt Shasta knowing that they are Volcanoes?...just because they haven't erupted in the last 100 years?

[FHMullane]

I hope conditions continue to improve. These people have been thru hell. They are tough!

[ubrew12]

itgranny said: "Floods are not the only thing. How many car accidents there are because of bad roads, be it potholes, bad bridges, bad signage or even just having the paint wore off. how many kids are not going to reach their potential or even get into trouble because we're trying to crowd 30 to 40 first graders into a classroom to save money. .. We need to wake up or we're going to loose everything. "

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently downgraded American infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers, levees) from D to D-. They now estimate it would take $2.2 trillion in immediate spending just to get our infrastructure up to code (say, isn't that what AIG just lost on credit default swap gambling?).

Americans prefer their tax cuts. These they use to fortify their McMansions against the coming invasion of the poor people, and venture out to the grocery store only in their armoured Hummers. Infrastructure is for liberals and wusscakes.

[itgranny]

I'm glad that the people of ND and MN are getting it worked out. Let's hope that all that's lost is property.

But... I do need to rant a bit. Why on earth didn't they do something to help prevent this? This is the second "century" flood they've had in <15 years. Whether you believe it was cause by global warming or bad luck, why wasn't something done to prevent this. ND has a budget surplus, why aren't they doing more to prevent the widespread damage caused by flooding rather trying to fix it after the fact.

I'm hoping Obama's stimulous plan includes projects that would actually help prevent things we KNOW are going to happen from doing us so much damage. This attitude we've had for the last 20 or better years to spend a dollar to save a dime is hurting us and costing us way more in the long run.

Floods are not the only thing. How many car accidents there are because of bad roads, be it potholes, bad bridges, bad signage or even just having the paint wore off. how many kids are not going to reach their potential or even get into trouble because we're trying to crowd 30 to 40 first graders into a classroom to save money. There's all kinds of examples.

The US needs to strategize way better than what we've been doing lately. This finance fiascal is a prime example of it. ...Somebody's making a lot of money, it must be good, if you question it, you're a bad person, jeolous of their success. Now China owns our butts and we get a "well who could have saw that coming"

We need to wake up or we're going to loose everything.