Fast-rising river inundates 2,500 homes in N.D.

Minot, N.D. -- The Souris River's full weight hit Minot on Friday, swamping an estimated 2,500 homes as it soared nearly 4 feet in less than a day and overwhelmed the city's levees. City officials said they expect as many as 4,500 homes to be flooded.

More than a quarter of the city's 40,000 residents evacuated earlier this week, packing belongings they hoped to save.

Fed by heavy rains upstream and dam releases that have accelerated in recent days, the Souris surged past a 130-year-old record Friday and kept going. The river was more than 5 feet above major flood stage Friday and expected to crest as early as today about 8 1/2 feet beyond major flood stage.

"This has been a very trying time for our community," Mayor Curt Zimbelman said. "It's emotionally draining for all of us."

"The river's coming up rapidly," Mayor Curt Zimbelman said. "It's dangerous, and we need to stay away."

As they had the past two days, emergency officials focused on protecting water and sewer systems to avoid the need for more evacuations. They were confident about the water system, but less so about the sewer treatment plant. It had been sandbagged as high as possible.

"This has been a very trying time for our community," Zimbelman said. "It's emotionally draining for all of us."

Also of concern was the Broadway Bridge, a key north-south route. Levees protecting the northern approach were being raised, but Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Kendall Bergmann said it was touch and go. The levee work also protected the campus of nearby Minot State University.

A car parked near the bridge was dry Friday morning but submerged by midday. Nearby, about a half-dozen gophers found themselves stranded on a small and shrinking dry patch. Furniture store workers cheered as one of the gophers swam 20 yards to safety.

George Moe, 63, whose house was about a block from the water's edge, returned briefly Friday to pick up some keys. Moe said the only thing left in his house was the mounted head of an antelope shot by his wife, who died about three years ago.

Moe worried about the home he has lived in for four decades and the shop where he works as a mechanic; it was taking on water, and he wasn't sure he would have a job after the flood.

"I hate to see something go to hell after 40 years," he said. "There ain't much you can do.