Red River Dropping, Others on Rise

The swollen Red River dropped slowly Sunday along the Minnesota-North Dakota line, where cities have frantically reinforced dikes against flooding.

However, the river is expected to stay high and above flood stage for several days, said Lynn Kennedy, a senior hydrological technician for the National Weather Service.

“It’s just been a very slow, minimal drop, more like holding steady than anything else,” Kennedy said.

Elsewhere across the Midwest, communities in wide areas of Minnesota waited to see whether their sandbag levees would hold as the Minnesota, St. Croix and other rivers continued rising. Parks along the Wisconsin bank of the Mississippi River had been closed, and residents of low-lying sections of Iowa along the Mississippi had started sandbagging and moving belongings to high ground.

More than 300 volunteers were called out Sunday at Granite Falls, Minn., after a 100-foot crack was found in a levee. Although the dike wasn’t leaking, the Minnesota River was quickly eroding its earthen sides, Mayor Dave Smiglewski said.

“At this point, we’re doing OK, but things are iffy,” he said.

The Red River had dropped 3 inches Sunday at Fargo and by an inch at Grand Forks, to 44.7 feet, Kennedy said.

“It could fluctuate around those values,” Kennedy said.

The Red topped 54 feet at Grand Forks in 1997, the year it forced residents to virtually empty the city.

More than half of Minnesota’s counties have reported some level of flooding. Only a few homes have been evacuated, but many of the state’s rivers have yet to crest, including the Mississippi.

“When these rivers peak, it’s not like a roller coaster that shoots up and down. The crest can last for days,” said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the state Public Safety Department.

Damage across Minnesota was expected to easily reach the $5.1-million threshold required for an official declaration of a disaster. About 370 National Guard soldiers were on active duty and an additional 40 were on standby to help with flooding problems, Smith said.