More Levees Doomed: Fargo Mayor

US Supreme Court rejects Missouri's request to halt operation

(NEWSER) - The Army Corps of Engineers lit up the Missouri skyline last night, blowing a two-mile gap in a levee, and activating a 1920s flood plan that has not been used since 1937. The explosions along the levee near drenched Cairo caused water to gush over prime farmland, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

(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»

Fargo residents battle freezing weather to shore up wall of sandbags

(NEWSER) - North Dakota officials issued a plea for thousands more sandbaggers this morning as residents scrambled to prepare for record flooding expected this weekend, reports ABC News. Volunteers in Fargo are battling a blizzard to raise a wall of sandbags along the Red River, predicted to crest at a new high of 42 feet by early Saturday. Evacuation plans are being finalized, even as more blasts are planned to break up continuing ice jams in the Missouri River near Bismarck. More»

Red River could see record overflow

(NEWSER) - Minnesota and North Dakota work crews joined volunteers today to build levees and sandbag walls as a storm threatened to cause flooding, Inforum reports. Locals living along Red River are bracing for as much as 1 inch of rain tonight from a storm expected to last 2 days, causing river flood crests of 37 to 40 feet for a week afterwards. Water spilled over the Red River in Fargo yesterday, reaching 21 feet, or 3 feet above flooding, the Seattle Times reports. More»