Why is minot nd flooding

Burlington's city hall, school and police and fire departments appeared safe, but some homes in the evacuation zone had water up to their first floors and higher. In one neighborhood, the tops of two traffic signs barely peeked above the brown, brackish water, which reached just beneath the eaves of two nearby houses.

Wayne Walter, a Burlington city councilman and truck driver for a snack food company, said residents were stunned by the river's rapid rise. Just a trickle of water had slipped over the dikes Thursday night, but by the next morning "everything was gone," he said.

The National Guard had members activated for the crisis. Minot is best known as home to an Air Force base, which oversees Minuteman III missiles in underground launch silos scattered over 8, square miles in northwest North Dakota. Davis, commander of the 91st Missile Wing, said there was some "localized flooding" at a handful of missiles sites because of the wet spring and summer. But he said the silos are designed to safely handle some water and protective measures were taken at a few sites similar to what's done in preparation for spring runoff from snowmelt.

The U. Fish and Wildlife Service launched four boats to patrol flooded neighborhoods and respond to calls. No injuries were reported. This plan has been refined over the years with exceptional data collection and detailed input by key staff members. The plan has identified levels at which the following roads may become inundated and require closure at the following stages:. The Minot levee system is broken down into six individual segments for flood fighting.

Each segment has been analyzed and quantities have been determined for each segment based on the proposed flood stage. Skip to Main Content. Loading Close. Do Not Show Again Close. A geyser of water surging through a gopher hole threatened to burst a natural dike in the city.

A man who sought much needed sleep following endless hours of sandbagging was abruptly tossed into the air. A group of about 30 angry residents, shovels in hand and intent on cutting away a dike, were stopped by authorities.

The above events occurred during the flood that ravaged Minot and other communities along the Souris River, the Minot Daily News reported. It was an April never to be forgotten by those who experienced it. It was in Tierracito Vallejo, immediately west of Minot, where a concrete floor exploded through carpeting and tore a couch in half, such was the pressure of water in the saturated ground.

Nearby the Souris was quietly flowing several inches beneath the top of protective sandbags. Citizens saying that dikes in certain areas of the city raised the level of water elsewhere, were adamant about leveling the playing field by breaching dikes they believed were causing additional harm to their neighborhood.

It took police intervention to stop them. At the time it occurred, the flood was the greatest natural disaster to ever strike Minot. Snowfall reached over 40 inches, the most in 47 years, but there was little concern that spring runoff would do little more than cause some localized trouble.

That trouble would multiply daily under the warm temperatures of early April. On April 7, , the first indication of water problems seeped into the city. Curious onlookers, unaware that they would later be victims of floodwater themselves, flocked to the area, gawking and taking pictures. By the end of the following day the total number of families displaced by rising water from Burlington to Minot had reached The culprit was the Des Lacs River, a small and winding stream flowing through a valley to the northwest of Minot.

Snowmelt carried rapidly down steep coulees was the reason for the unexpected surge of water. The visual message of what might yet come began to take effect for Minot residents living along the Souris River. Park Passes. Technical Announcements. Employees in the News. Emergency Management.