North Dakota anxiously patrols levees

With freezing water lapping at the top of levees, an army of flashlight-wielding flood patrols worked through the night to search for leaks Sunday as officials in Fargo, North Dakota reinforced defenses against a record-breaking flood.

Officials fear as many as 30,000 people could be left homeless in the northern plains if the Red River breaks through levees protecting Fargo as well as Moorhead lying on the opposite bank in Minnesota.

The weary region was granted some relief Saturday as water level sank by a few inches to 40.45 feet 12.3 meters, but city officials warned that the river was not done with them yet.

"With water this high we absolutely are in the watch and respond and plug mode," Fargo mayor Dennis Walaker said.

The Red River is putting enormous amounts of pressure on the city's 48 miles 77 kilometers of protective dikes and levees and crews are struggling to reinforce weak spots and contain minor leaks, he told reporters.

And the river could very easily rise again before it finally crests since there is still "a lot of water" flowing into the Red from tributaries and overland flooding.

"We simply need to have people patrolling the streets, watching the dikes and calling us when they see something," Walaker said.

Thousands of people have already fled their homes as this flat prairie state remained blanketed with snow and flooded waterways which were closing in on isolated farms and smaller towns.

Water levels in some homes had reached the second floor.

Bitterly cold temperatures may have saved the city from a deluge by freezing some of the floodwater and preventing further melting, officials said.

But a potential blizzard forecast to dump four to eight inches 10 to 20 centimeters of snow on the Red River Valley in the coming days may cause waves up to two feet 60 centimeters due to its high winds, the weather service warned.

And dangerous ice jams were forming.

Downtown Fargo was largely empty after the mayor asked non-essential businesses to close their doors and residents to stay off the roads to make room for rapid response teams.

Sandbagging efforts were set to resume Sunday morning at the Fargodome stadium where desperate volunteers have already filled more than 2.5 million bags.

Officials said the river at Fargo early Saturday reached 40.8 feet 12.4 meters -- a 112-year record level after the 1897 foot that reached 40.1 feet 12.2 meters and only inches below the top of Fargo's highest levees.

Curt Kesselring, who has lived through four of Fargo's floods and lost his home to two of them, was digging in for a long fight against the slow-moving water.

"I think we've crossed the worst of it but there can be plenty of things you can't predict," Kesselring said as he picked up better-fitting waders and a fresh pair of waterproof gloves.

FEMA said it had huge stockpiles for evacuees, including over 170,000 pre-packaged meals, 30,000 cots, 38,000 blankets, 50,000 hygiene kits, 66,043 gallons 250,000 liters of water and 50 generators.



Lions enjoy the sun in their enclosure at a zoo, March 29, 2009. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji

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