North Dakota evacuates up to 12,000 in Minot as record flood imminent

[cbdo2007]

By David Bailey – Wed Jun 22, 10:14 pm ET

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – The rapidly rising Souris River poured over flood defenses in Minot, North Dakota on Wednesday, overwhelming efforts to delay the deluge and forcing the immediate evacuation of thousands of homes.

City officials had ordered residents to vacate about a quarter of North Dakota's fourth-largest city, but the massive water flows from heavy rains in Canada hastened the evacuation by about five hours as defenses began to fail.

Up to 12,000 residents live in areas expected to be swamped by floodwaters projected to smash a 130-year-old record by up to 5 feet. Emergency sirens sounded about 1 p.m. indicating that water was flowing over levees in flood-threatened areas.

"You hate to admit defeat at any time, but as far as our permanent dike, it can't handle the kind of water that we are going to see," Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman told reporters at an evening news conference.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_flooding_plains