River threatens North Dakota town

Earthmoving equipment and National Guard helicopters hauled sand Monday to reinforce leaky dikes that led to evacuations of two parts of town threatened by the Sheyenne River, the latest North Dakota stream to rise above its banks.

Twice in 12 hours police had gone knocking on doors, urging people to get out.

“It was just kind of disbelief, actually,” said chiropractor Jeff Brown, who lives near one dike that had to be repaired Sunday night.

He said he was in his backyard Sunday afternoon when “my daughter stuck her head out the window and said, ‘Dad, we have to evacuate.’ ”

Police came around with bullhorns to warn residents “like a scene out of a movie,” he said.

Brown and his family packed up their belongings and headed to his parents’ home on higher ground.

They were allowed to return Monday after repairs to the nearby dike, but early Monday a weak spot developed in a dike near Valley City State University and residents of another part of town were told to leave while crews reinforced the dike.

On Monday afternoon, authorities were working to shore up another leak near an electrical substation.

“Valley City is in a marathon,” said U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), who was in the city with Gov. John Hoeven. The governor said the number of National Guard personnel would be doubled to help with monitoring.

Mayor Mary Lee Nielson did not know how many people evacuated in the town of 6,875 people.

She said officials advised the evacuation because “we always err on the side of caution and get people out of harm’s way when we can.”

The Sheyenne rose Monday above the 20-foot record set in April 1882. At 5 p.m., it was at 20.44 feet in Valley City, headed for a crest of about 22 feet in the next couple of days, the National Weather Service said. At that height, the city could have to close all but one of its 11 scenic bridges, officials said.

On Monday, only two bridges were open.

It’s the latest threat from rivers swollen by melting snow that already have washed out roads, damaged homes and turned farmsteads into islands around North Dakota. The weather service issued a flood warning Sunday for large parts of western and central North Dakota.

The Sheyenne River empties into the Red River, which is expected to reach a second flood crest of its own near Fargo this week.

Flooding has washed out roads across North Dakota, and counties are advising people not to travel on many smaller, secondary routes. State transportation officials said the speed limit was reduced to 25 mph on Interstate 94 near Steele, in central North Dakota, because of flooding.

In Walsh County, in northeastern North Dakota, authorities said a man was missing after his pickup was swept away by floodwaters.

On Saturday, officials started evacuating the North Dakota Veterans Home near the Sheyenne River in the town of Lisbon.