FARGO, N.D. (AP Mar 21, 2013) – The National Weather Service says residents along the Red River in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn., should prepare for one of the top five floods in their history.
 
     Flood stage for the river is 18 feet. The flood outlook released Thursday says there’s a 50 percent chance that the river will top 38 feet. That would top the fifth-highest crest of 37.34 feet in 1969.
 
     Fargo officials say they believe the city is still in good shape because of recent flood protection improvements, but they plan to make 500,000 sandbags to add to a reserve of 750,000 bags.
 
     Fargo-Moorhead residents battled three straight major floods beginning in 2009, when the record crest of nearly 41 feet forced thousands to evacuate and caused an estimated $100 million in damage.

Meanwhile…

 Recent snowfall has increased the chances of a 2-foot rise on Devils Lake this summer.
 
     The National Weather Service says the chance is now about 90 percent, up from about 50 percent earlier this month.
 
     The latest flood outlook from the weather service says there is about a 25 percent chance the lake will surpass its record elevation of 1,454.3 feet above sea level, set in June 2011. A levee system protects the city of Devils Lake from a much higher elevation.
 
     The lake on Thursday was at 1,451.5 feet.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is increasing the outflow from the Lake Darling Dam, located northwest of Minot, N.D., to 600 cubic feet per second today, March 22.

The Corps expects to increase the outflow from the dam next week. The amount will be based on the outflows being released from dams in Canada. The Corps of Engineers urges everyone down river of the dam to use extreme caution near the river in the coming days and weeks, since the ice will become increasingly fragile due to the increased flows.

The Corps assumed control of Lake Darling Dam from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service March 19 when the International Souris River Board declared a 1 in 10 flood event for the river.