North Dakota Scrambles to Fight Flood

With the Souris River expected to reach record heights, Minot, North Dakota, is scrambling to finish dikes protecting the one bridge still connecting the two halves of the city, the Jamestown Sun reports—and Mayor Curt Zimbelman doesn't think they're going to make it. "Work will continue until we can no longer hold back the water," he says.

Waters are already high, and the estimate for where they'll crest has shot from 1,555 feet at the start of the week to 1,564.5 feet in the latest estimate—a staggering increase that would cause the area's worst flood ever, passing a high set in 1881. Even residents who live outside the evacuation zone are now being advised to move prized belongings to the second floor. (More North Dakota stories.)