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Mar 23, 2009 11:01 pm US/Central
Sandbaggers Working To Stay Ahead Of Water
(AP)
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The river is at moderate flood stage now, but is expected to rise to major level flooding by the end of the week.
CBS
Towns in western Minnesota are getting ready for high water as melting snow and heavy rains push up river levels.
In Hawley, city officials are not expecting too much trouble from the rising Buffalo River.
"We're in pretty good shape," said Vice Mayor John Young Jr.
Young said the river is predicted to crest Tuesday night at 11.3 feet, which would match the historic high of 1921. But he said Hawley is able to escape major flooding, thanks to a dike built in the early 1960s.
Along the Red River, the city of Halstad plans to bring in volunteers to start sandbagging Tuesday. The Red is forecast to crest at 40.5 feet on Sunday, which is 14.5 feet above flood stage and near the 40.8-foot level of the 1997 flood.
But a levee around Halstad kept out the water in 1997.
"We're guardedly confident that it'll do the job this time," Halstad utility superintendent David Meyer said Monday.
Some towns in west-central and central Minnesota also were preparing for potential flooding as storms moved through the region.
Stearns County officials put nearly 500 specially trained volunteers on alert for any major flooding.
Emergency Management Director Marv Klug also said the county was ready to respond to calls from homeowners who fear rising water.
The county already has received one report of some flooding over a county road near Richmond, Klug told WJON-AM of St. Cloud.
Flood warnings were out Monday for Chippewa and Swift counties in west-central Minnesota, because of an ice jam along the Chippewa River and 2-3 inches of rain that fell in the morning. Law enforcement agencies reported several township roads were covered by water or washed out.
But Chippewa County Emergency Management Director Marvin Garbe said no homes in the county were expected to be affected by flooding.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Slideshow: Flooding In Red River Valley 
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