Bryce Haugen
brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com
Perfect melting conditions have led to a drastic improvement in the region’s flood outlook, though overland flooding threatens some rural residences.
That’s the message from Gabe Tweten to the Clay County Board of Commissioners at their weekly meeting Tuesday, April 2.
“This melt has been great,” Tweten said. “Obviously, the weather conditions have been excellent.”
The updated flood forecast from the National Weather Service indicates the Red River in Fargo-Moorhead will crest on Monday at 34.6 feet, far below the record 40.84 feet of the 2009 flood.
“That’s substantially better than the initial (forecast),” Tweten said.
On Sunday, March 31, the Red reached 18 feet, just above minor flood stage.
The Buffalo River at Dilworth was projected to crest on Wednesday at 23 feet, low enough to avoid major flooding. And the south branch of the Buffalo near Sabin already had crested as of Tuesday morning.
“All good news,” Tweten said.
Right now, he said, the biggest concern continues to be overland flooding in the rural parts of the county due to plugged culverts. A couple homes along County Road 10, which extends from south of Sabin east through Downer to the Becker County line, had reported damage from such flooding over the past weekend.
Rural residences looking for volunteers and those willing to volunteer should connect through Firstlink, which coordinates volunteer efforts in Clay and Cass counties as well as Fargo-Moorhead, by calling 211.
“It’s a good number for volunteers and those needing volunteers,” Tweten said.