Fargo Floodwater Breaks Record, Erodes Dike

(AP) - Earthmoving equipment and National Guard helicopters hauled sand today to reinforce leaky dikes that prompted evacuations in Valley City, a town threatened by the Sheyenne River, the latest North Dakota stream to rise above its banks. The Sheyenne was headed for a crest at around 22 feet in the next couple of days in Valley City, 2 feet higher than the record set in 1882. More»

(NEWSER) - The forecast in Fargo is actually getting worse. The Red River may crest at a potentially catastrophic 43 feet this weekend—2 feet higher than previous warnings, ABC News reports. "We're in uncharted territory," said the mayor, as volunteers raced to raise the levees in the North Dakota city. In a sign of the fear, workers have begun building a second set of dikes inside the main one, notes the New York Times. More»

Police consider charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship

(NEWSER) - Italian police today detained the captain of a cruise ship that ran aground last night , killing at least three and triggering a massive overnight evacuation off Italy's west coast, CNN reports. Authorities say they may charge captain Francesco Schettino for manslaughter and abandoning ship. They also want to know why the 4,200-passenger Costa Concordia, which struck shallow rocks and rolled on its side, didn't send out an early mayday. More»

Flooding, fallen trees, downed power lines snarl many communities

(AP) - With Irene gone, cleanup crews began pumping water out of soggy subway tunnels, fixing traffic lights in the nation's capital, and clearing debris from hundreds of roads as the East Coast readied for the workweek. While early indications were that the damage was not as bad as feared, the hurricane led to the deaths of at least 25 people in eight states as of last night. It will be days before things get back to normal in many places, as more than 4 million homes and businesses along the coast still did not have power yesterday. More»

Walls of muddy water pour through streets, rip off hillsides

(NEWSER) - Drenching weather continued to hammer southern California throughout the day yesterday, inundating streets, tearing off hillsides and driving thousands of people from their homes. Some regions have been swamped with an entire year of rain in a single week. A muddy wall of water 4 feet high poured through downtown Laguna Beach and rescuers used boats to rescue stranded residents in six California counties. A single mudslide near the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains wiped out some 20 homes, reports ABC News . "All I heard was a big old roar of thunder, and I ran downstairs," said one resident. "By the time I got downstairs, I had a roaring river in my living room. I got nothing left!" More»