Soggy Towns Sandbag, Wait

Towns along the lower Minnesota River stacked more sandbags and measured the rising flood Tuesday as residents here watched to see if they would get hit again.

“People are worried … but we’re taking it as it comes,” said Myrtle Sherod, who was helping her daughter run Valentino’s Restaurant on Main Street, protected by the levees.

Sherod turns 80 in two weeks. “The water had better go down by then,” she said.

Schools reopened Tuesday for the first time since last week, and many businesses on high ground also opened their doors in this town 130 miles west of Minneapolis.

President Clinton signed a disaster declaration Tuesday night for 21 flood- and storm-damaged Minnesota counties, freeing up federal money for recovery. North and South Dakota were declared disaster areas on Monday.