Fargo Flooding

Fargo, North Dakota has begun a mandatory evacuation for several neighborhoods within the city including hospitals and nursing homes after a crack in one of the earthen levees was found. Residents are being told to move to higher ground immediately. River forecasts now call for the Red River to rise to 43 feet. Read this statement from the NWS in Grand Forks, ND...

CONDITIONS ON THE RED RIVER AT FARGO HAVE GROWN INCREASINGLY
DANGEROUS OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS. THE RIVER IS CURRENTLY APPROACHING
RECORD LEVELS AND SHOWING NO SIGN OF SLOWING AT THIS POINT. AS THE
RIVER EXCEEDS THE PREVIOUS RECORD LEVEL...THE RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
IN FORECAST MODELS HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. RECORD FLOWS UPSTREAM
OF FARGO HAVE PRODUCED UNPRECEDENTED CONDITIONS ON THE RED RIVER. GIVEN
THESE FACTORS...THE RIVER IS EXPECTED TO BEHAVE IN WAYS NEVER PREVIOUSLY
OBSERVED. THE CREST FORECAST AT FARGO IS NOW EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN 41
AND 42 FEET BY SATURDAY...BUT COULD POTENTIALLY BE AS HIGH AS 43 FEET...
AND CONTINUE FOR 3 TO 7 DAYS.

Flood stage for the Red River is 18 feet! The last flood of this magnitude for Fargo was in 1997. At that time, the river crested at 39.5 feet. This is a historic flood.