Flooding in US city eases but storm moves in
By CARSON WALKER and NATE JENKINS, Associated Press
Mar 30, 2009 8:31 AM CDT

Just as the Red River began retreating from Fargo's hastily fortified levees, the city's tired residents stared down a winter storm Monday expected to bring up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) of snow and wind-whipped waves that could worsen the flooding.

Engineers weren't worried about the snow, but waves that could crash against the sandbag levees, further weakening them. The forecast called for the storm to move in by early afternoon Monday and last until Tuesday evening

The higher the wind speed, the higher the threat, Jeff DeZellar, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Monday. The forecast is for winds of 25 mph (40 kph) and "certainly that's enough wind to create some wave action on the river," he said.

Despite the expected snow, forecasters are optimistic that by the time it starts melting, river levels will have receded even more. Temperatures are not expected to go above freezing again until Thursday, said meteorologist Mark Frazier.

The Red River dropped slightly to 39 1/2 feet (12 meters) early Monday _ less than record highs set earlier in the week but still nearly 22 feet (7 meters) above flood stage. City officials have said they would breathe easier when the river falls to 37 feet (11 meters) or lower, expected by Saturday.

It will be a long week waiting to see if the levees _ quickly constructed last week by Fargo's men, women and children _ can hold firm.

The National Guard was placing a layer of poly, a plastic-type sheeting, over the levees to help them hold up against high waves. "It's important to get as much work done as we can before the storm comes," DeZellar said.

The flood was caused by an enormous winter snowfall that melted and combined with more precipitation to send the river to record levels. The river flows from south to north through the tabletop terrain of North Dakota, providing few opportunities to drain.

"The place is so flat," said John Gulliver, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Minnesota. "It is totally flat so there's really no place for the water to go because it can't leave that quickly. So it just keeps backing up like a bathtub with a slow drain."

On Sunday, helicopter crews sought to fortify the levees Sunday by dropping 11 one-ton sandbags near vulnerable areas of the dike system. Above them, an unmanned Predator drone from the Air Force flew to watch flood patterns and ice floes. North Dakota has more than 2,400 National Guard troops engaged in the flood fight across the state.

The helicopters focused on an area near a school that was inundated after floodwaters briefly breached a levee Sunday, causing considerable damage before officials quickly pumped out most of the water.

Mayor Dennis Walaker called the incident at the school a "wakeup call" and a sign of the type of flooding that could happen at any time in the coming week.

Fargo officials say they have limited the damage to a small number of homes within the city limits, but several outlying rural areas have seen significant flooding.

Cass County sheriff's deputies toured some of these areas Sunday, offering assistance to stranded residents. All the while, huge sheets of ice floated over people's yards, and lawn furniture and children's toys stacked up behind sandbag lines.

Moorhead, Minnesota, a city of 30,000 directly across the river from Fargo, also was fighting to hold back the river. A husband and wife had to be rescued by boat from their home after they became trapped on the second floor.

The flooding was blamed for two deaths in North Dakota, in what health officials said were apparent heart attacks brought on by flood-prevention exertion.

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Associated Press Writers Juliana Barbassa, Jim Suhr, Patrick Condon and James MacPherson in Fargo and Scott Bauer in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Red River at Fargo water levels: http://sn.im/enwgc