Plains States Brace for Runoff, ‘Historic’ Flooding

Volunteers raced to stack more sandbags Monday, afraid that the meltdown from a spring blizzard could worsen what’s already some of the most severe flooding on the northern Plains in years.

Across the Plains, fields were sheets of white stretching to the horizon after a storm over the weekend left more than 2 feet of snow in places.

In northwestern Minnesota, along the Red River that forms the state line with North Dakota, bright sunshine melted a little snow, but the real thaw is expected Thursday or Friday, said Mark Seeley, climatologist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

“Everything predicted for the Red is a flood of historic proportions,” he said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning extending for the next two weeks along portions of three rivers in other parts of Minnesota--the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix.

There was no quick way to gauge how bad the flooding might become once the snow melts, but 4 to 5 inches of heavy, late-season snow could be equal to 1 inch of rain, Seeley said.

In Granite Falls, wind-blown snow stung the faces of workers stacking sandbags on the levees as they worked to protect about 40 homes along the Minnesota River.

Flood victims and weary out-of-town volunteers trapped by the snowstorm stuck it out in a shelter at the high school gym.

“We’ve had so much fun here--floods, blizzard. We’re expecting the asteroid next,” said Red Cross volunteer Karen Barck from Marshall, 30 miles away. She had been at the shelter since Thursday.

Residents were told to drink bottled water after sewage backed up into the Granite Falls water supply.

A highway-model snow blower was used as a pump, sucking water off the streets and spraying it in a 100-foot-high arc over the levee back into the river.

In northwestern Minnesota, rising water from the Wild Rice and Marsh rivers forced the evacuation of about 1,000 residents of Ada, a town of 1,700.

“We’re absolutely overwhelmed,” Mayor Russ Onstad said from one of the town’s few working phones. “We’re getting water from north, south and east.”

President Clinton signed a statewide disaster declaration Monday for South Dakota. There was no immediate word on declarations for other states in the region. Thousands remained without power.

Temperatures dropped to zero Monday at Dickinson, N.D., and Bemidji, Minn., recorded a wind chill of 37 below zero.

Outside Wahpeton, N.D., along the Red River, Tom Kubela’s wheat and bean fields were entombed in ice that was 15 feet deep in spots. “It’s kind of neat looking,” he said. “There’s ridges in it. They look like little snowbanks. There was 50 mph winds making whitecaps in the yard. They froze in midair.”

Kubela’s farm is just 100 yards away from the Bois de Sioux River, a tributary to the Red River. His family has lived there for 110 years, and this is the worst weather anyone can remember.

“You expect it, but when you get a major flood, and throw in a blizzard, and a deep freeze afterwards--nothing like this has every happened here,” he said.

Across the river in Breckenridge, Minn., Jason Matteson drove his ice-covered four-wheel-drive vehicle looking for an open store to buy diapers for his 2-year-old son. Matteson said he’s been using towels since Saturday.

“I’m in dire need,” he said. “The boy’s not slowing down.”