Fargo-Moorhead crest is now expected on Sunday; 'We're just holding our breath'

RED RIVER VALLEY - With thousands of residents evacuated from their homes in Fargo and Moorhead today, the water-logged region continued waiting for the historic crest of the Red River.

The river now is expected to top out at 42 feet Sunday afternoon. It stood at 40.79 at 4:30 a.m., down .03 over the previous three hours.

"Right now," Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said, "we're just holding our breath."

Moorhead officials had expanded the evacuation area Friday night, urging residents of the Country Club Addition to leave immediately. They joined residents from about 2,660 houses evacuated earlier.

In Fargo, levee leaks prompted two neighborhood evacuations. Emergency officials put buses on call to collect evacuees at the fairgrounds. Enough food and water was stockpiled to handle 30,000 people in shelters for a week.

And dozens of the curious and the horrified stood on the Veterans Memorial Bridge that links the cities, gazing down at the surging river.

But the dikes held.

The latest prediction by hydrologists would put the Red 2 feet above the record set 112 years ago and concern remained it could go as high as 43 feet before waters begin to recede next week. Cold weather has slowed the flow of runoff into the river, delaying the crest originally expected to arrive tonight, weather officials said Friday night.

Dave Rogness, emergency manager for Cass County, said he didn't think residents would be troubled after hearing they had one more day to prepare. He said everyone is prepared to live with the crest for several days.

"As long as the crest predictions don't rise, we'll be fine," he said. "We're at the stage we need to be."

In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said President Obama "is personally watching this one," but she would advise him to stay out of the area for now so he won't divert resources.

"The focus needs to be on taking care of the residents of Fargo-Moorhead and all those surrounding communities through the most serious part of the flood," Napolitano said.

She said the Coast Guard had rescued 82 people so far, and between 80,000 and 100,000 residents might need to be moved out of harm's way in the worst-case scenario.

'A slow creep'

Although the Red is churning between Fargo and Moorhead at 33,500 cubic feet per second -- roughly 20 times faster than usual -- the cold has reduced its speed.

"It's going into a slow creep and pooling up before pushing through the 700-foot chute between the cities," said Steve Buan of the North Central River Forecast Center.

In Moorhead, city officials say the dikes are holding well so far, with no major leaks.

"But the river is still going to go up," Voxland said. "We have never in the history of this area seen this volume of water coming through, and we don't know how it's going to react."

Many nursing homes were emptied by Friday, along with MeritCare hospital, North Dakota's largest, which sent its 180 patients to hospitals in Minneapolis, Grand Forks, N.D., and Sioux Falls, S.D.

Coast Guard air boats searched for stranded homeowners in Briarwood, south of Fargo. At least 11 people were plucked from homes.

"We did the best we could," homeowner Darcy Scheer said. "Water's starting to seep to the main floor now." Added her husband, Craig Sheer: "It just is too much."

Guard stands watch

The National Guard sent 58 teams of inspectors to stand 24-hour watches on the dikes. Officials asked residents to call the "Leaks Hotline" -- 701-241-1545 -- if they see water breaking through.

Napolitano urged residents to clear out if ordered, but to plan with family members where to reunite in case they're split up during evacuations. She insisted they need not worry about their houses or possessions.

"If there are evacuation orders entered, consistent with those will be plans to watch the housing left, to prevent vandalism and such," she said.

Hundred of Guard troops and local law officers watched dikes and levees, monitoring who was coming and going in vulnerable areas.

Although neither city reported any major breaches in levees or dikes, flood fighters remained busy. In the upscale Oak Creek neighborhood of Fargo, a leak prompted Guard troops to help construct a second dike, and crews pumped water into Friday evening while frantic sandbagging continued.

"Even though there is going to be a lot of sore backs, no spirits are going to be broken here," said state Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Glyndon.

Sign for optimism?

Despite the river's relentless rise, some residents still harbored cautious optimism. They looked with hope to Oxbow, the town south of Fargo that saw multiple evacuations and flooded homes earlier in the week.

"If not dropping, it's holding there," Cass County deputy Craig Danielson said.

Some government leaders cut the tension with humor. U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., flew over the area with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. "I was telling Amy on the way over here," Peterson said, "that our solution to get the money we need is to just declare that we're a bank."

Like most residents, the politicians were waiting to see what Sunday brings, when the Red is expected to reach its highest point in recorded history. And all are hoping for the best.

"It was somewhat eerie," Klobuchar said of the scene from above. "You know there was water in those yards, but it was all covered by a white blanket of snow.

"This is a time when the forces of nature of the Red River will meet the forces of the human spirit - this community."

Staff writers Richard Meryhew, Bill McAuliffe, Lora Pabst and Bob von Sternberg contributed to this report.