Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

North Dakota bracing for rising Red River to reach flood stage

THE Red River rising south of the border prompted the start of flood protection measures there but Manitoba's flood expert is still analyzing the implications here.

The Red River reached the 28-foot mark in Grand Forks, N.D., on Monday, initiating a series of precautionary moves.

The river would have to climb another 10 feet in Grand Forks before flood gates are closed and stormwater pumping stations are activated. Low-level farmland flooding would occur if the Red rose to 33 feet. North Dakota officials said the odds of the river level reaching 46 feet, considered a major flood stage, are 73 per cent.

A spokesman for Manitoba Water Stewardship said Alf Warkentin, the province's chief river forecaster, is still analyzing the latest data from North Dakota and won't be ready to release an update until Thursday.

Warkentin said on March 3 the prospects of significant flooding in Manitoba are much less than they are south of the border, in part because the Red is much narrower there and because snowfall was below normal in Manitoba but above normal in North Dakota.

Warkentin said river levels should be 0.3 to 0.9 metres lower than last year -- if we don't get any more snow or rain.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 16, 2010 A6

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