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Flood Forces North Dakota City to Evacuate—Again

River levels expected to rise to all-time high, threatening Minot residents

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 22, 2011 6:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – Officials have ordered 11,000 Minot, North Dakota, residents to flee their homes by 6pm today, in what will be their second evacuation this month. The Souris River is expected to spill over the city's protective levees soon, in its worst flood in four decades, the AP reports. Officials say that even the 6pm deadline might be cutting it close; they'll sound a warning siren if the water crests the levees sooner.

Minot residents have already been forced to evacuate once earlier this month, when the river rose to 1,554.1 feet. They were allowed back to their homes, but told to be ready to leave quickly if need be. Now, the water is even higher at 1,554.4 feet, putting it just a tenth of an inch short of the the historic flood of 1969. By this weekend, it's expected to hit 1,563 feet, in which case it would pass the all-time high recorded in 1881 by a whopping five feet.

The Souris River passes near a home, June 21, 2011, in Minot, N.D. (AP Photo/ The Forum, Teri Finneman)

Homes in northeast Minot, N.D. sit behind a temporary dike built just a few feet from the swollen Souris River. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Kim Fundingsland)

Work continues on a temporary dike along the Souris River in northeast Minot, N.D., Thursday, June 2, 2011. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Kim Fundingsland)

Motorists are stuck at this flooded intersection in northwest Minot, North Dakota Tuesday morning May 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Kim Fundingsland, Minot Daily News)

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Flood Forces North Dakota City to Evacuate—Again

River levels expected to rise to all-time high, threatening Minot residents

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