Beijing Olympics: Officials warn North Dakota levees may fail

Officials warned Sunday that more of North Dakota's strain levees were likely to fail under the pressure of record flood waters, as approaching snow storms threatened more misery for anxious residents.

One floodwall protecting a Fargo school was undermined early Sunday, swamping the campus in what the mayor called a "wakeup call" to those who thought the worst was over when the river crested.

"Those things will continue to happen, I guarantee it," said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker. "People have to continue to be vigilant."

The mighty Red River, which divides North Dakota and Minnesota and runs north to Canada, was flowing at three to four times its normal strength, eating away at on the city's 48 miles 77 kilometers of protective dikes and levees.

A blizzard bringing strong winds forecast to hit the region Monday could whip up waves as high as two feet which may wash over the city's defenses, the national weather service predicted.

Federal officials warned that as many as 30,000 people could be left homeless in the northern plains if the river breaks through levees which are the only defenses for North Dakota's largest city, Fargo, as well as Moorhead lying on the opposite bank in Minnesota.

But local officials said a series of contingency dikes should protect most neighborhoods and noted that only five homes have been lost so far within the city limits.

"We've had an awful lot of pressure to vacate the city and we refuse to do that," Walaker said.

"We are not going to abandon our city. We've invested too much in this process to walk away from it."

With the river expected to remain more than 20 feet about flood level for the next week, thousands of volunteers worked to fill another 500,000 sandbags to help reinforce levees.

An army of foot patrols walked the lines of the city's defenses to try to catch and plug minor leaks before they undermined the entire system.

And officials used helicopters to lower11 one-ton bags of sand into the breach at Oak Grove Lutheran School and were able save the complex from significant water damage.

Thousands of people have already fled their homes as this flat prairie state remained blanketed with snow and floods that were nine miles 14.5 kilometers across in some points.

Water levels in some riverside homes had reached the second floor while small dikes kept others dry in the middle of a deep, muddy lake.

Regular boat patrols checked in on those who refused to leave their homes so they could monitor their pumps and repair leaks.

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 at a local shop.

"Go out there it's a war zone ... you wouldn't want to do this every year."

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