North Dakota Dikes Weaken As Red River Hits Record Level

Earthen dikes meant to protect North Dakota’s largest city from the worst flood imaginable weren’t high enough Thursday as the Red River climbed to its highest level ever.

Crews had to top off the walls with sandbags in hopes of holding back the water.

To the north, 1,000 people in Grand Forks were told to evacuate their homes after cracks were found in a Red River dike.

In Fargo, an entire neighborhood of 40 homes was evacuated when another dike started to look weak. After awhile, it seemed that the sandbagging effort had paid off.

Fargo operations manager Dennis Walaker expressed optimism.

“The rate of rise is slowing down. So we have to hang in there for two, three more days. I don’t think the river is going to go up substantially any more than it presently is - maybe 2, 3, maybe 4 inches.”

The Red River at Fargo hit 39.12 feet early Thursday, its highest level ever. The old record, set precisely 100 years ago, was 39.1 feet. By noon, the river had risen to 39.39 feet, and was still expected to crest at 39.5 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet.

In Grand Forks, about 90 miles north of Fargo, the question was how much higher the water would go and when it would finally slow down.

“We were better prepared at this time that at any time in the history of Grand Forks, and that isn’t enough,” Mayor Pat Owens said.

The Army Corps of Engineers sent crews in to fix the cracked dike near the downtown area.

The National Weather Service raised its projected crest for the Red River at Grand Forks to between 50.5 feet and 51.5 feet today or Saturday. Flood stage is 28 feet.