The Clay County Commission declared a flood emergency at its Tuesday meeting. But after approving the request by county emergency manager Gabe Tweten, they went on to reassure residents that flooding is not imminent. The declaration was passed “just in case.”

“This is not meant to strike fear in anybody,” commissioner Kevin Campbell assured his colleague. “We’re obviously not expecting a flood at this point. We just want to start the clock to keep it in our favor.”

Tweten told commissioners that a drive around rural areas early Tuesday had allayed his fears for what will happen in coming weeks. “I surveyed the river and roads, and it looks pretty good,” he said. “We dodged a bullet with the rain event predicted last week.”

The Red River was at 18.23 feet in the Fargo-Moorhead area, he said, with a crest of 29 feet predicted for the coming weekend. The Buffalo River was at 11.25 feet, predicted to crest Thursday into Friday at 19 feet, basely reaching the minor flood stage. The south branch of the Buffalo, where excess water problems often occur, was at 13.27 feet, with its crest coming Wednesday into Thursday at 14.8 feet.

“The water has dried up in most of the fields, but some ditches are running very full,” he reported. “We will have some issues with plugged ditches and culverts, but the 10-day forecast looks good.”

The emergency declaration he requested and the commission approved, then, is more of a preemptive measure. He explained that it starts the clock, so to speak, on the flood for purposes of state and federal reimbursement. “With FEMA, we can look at recouping costs triggered by the rivers,” he explained. “There will be some costs for sure, even at the predicted levels, and the declaration now means they may count in the eventual disaster amount.”