Despite houses becoming islands and more roads going underwater, there are some good signs for the flood fight in rural Cass County.
The National Weather Service is predicting the crest of the Sheyenne River to be at 91.1 feet, which is 7.1 feet above flood stage. That is four inches lower then what was originally expected.
That difference of four inches on the crest of the Sheyenne River may not seem like a lot, but for places like Harwood, it is the difference between roads remaining open or closed.
“Half a foot can make a big difference. Whether a road gets washed out, or over topped, or if people still have access to their homes or rural sub division,” said Cass County engineer Jason Benson.
Benson said that is just some of the good news for areas north of Fargo. He said the crests for the Maple, Rush, Sheyenne and Red Rivers are all coming in at different times this year, which allows water from one river to disperse before the next crest hits.
“It looks like that Rush River water that came through Amenia and Prosper is now in that Harwood area and that’s going to get some of that water out before the Maple River raises the Sheyenne further south of Harwood,” Benson said.
Benson also said of the 115,000 sandbags filled, 50,000 are deployed across the county and are being put to good use. For example, the more than 1,500 bags surrounding a home in Argusville were put down by nearby constructions workers who volunteered to do it for the elderly homeowners.
“We went and talked to the homeowners and the county to see if it was okay to do it and they were okay with it,” said David Gunville with ASN Constructors.
“They still are about a foot deep on the driveway there, but I told her we’d keep an eye to there as well,” said Bradley Tapper, also with ASN Constructors.
Even with all of the positive news, the flood fight isn’t over.
“People should expect, north of West Fargo through the Harwood area, water will continue to rise about the last foot and a half or so. As it does that, it’s going to start spilling out and filling in ditches, filling in fields, and people potentially can lose access,” Benson said.
Benson also says he expects the Sheyenne to crest near Harwood on Monday, April 24.
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