Midwestern Rivers Still Rise

Midwestern Rivers Still Rise

NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, April 12, 2001

MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) - Weary volunteers waited Wednesday as thunderstorms in central and western Minnesota and the Dakotas threatened to send swollen rivers over levees along the Red, Minnesota and Mississippi rivers.

Farm fields and low-lying areas were already under water, and several roads remained closed. Severe weather also was forecast for Iowa, west-central Illinois and Missouri.

The latest storms were expected to dump nearly 1.5 inches of rain on the Red River Valley as sandbaggers and state and local officials shored up flood control measures, hoping to prevent a repeat of the 1997 flood.

The river was 6.5 feet above flood stage in Breckenridge, Minn., and was expected to crest at 19 to 20 feet. Earth moving flood-fighters added an additional 2 feet to the 20-foot dikes around the town. The levees were already 7.5 feet higher than flood stage.

"I have been waiting for this flood for months now, and I'm tired of waiting," Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Officials in Fargo, N.D. and Morehead, Minn., expect the river, which flows north toward Canada, to crest at between 37 to 38 feet early next week, just short of the record 39.7 feet four years ago. The water could rise to 48 to 50 feet in Grand Forks, N.D.

About 300 volunteers filled more than 20,000 sandbags in Fargo.

The National Weather Service said 2 to 4 more inches of rain could drench central Minnesota.

The St. Paul Downtown Airport was closed, and emergency crews placed 40,000 sandbags along the new riverfront park on Harriet Island.