FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota officials intensified their efforts Saturday to fend off the floodwater of the Red River, deploying high-tech Predator drone aircraft, calling up more National Guard troops and asking residents to be on the lookout for any breaches in levees.
The National Weather Service predicted the Red River would crest at near 42 feet sometime Sunday, but said it was still possible the river could rise to 43 feet. That's as high as the levees go and is nearly 3 feet above than the record of 40.1 feet set in 1897.
The crest was originally expected Saturday, but pushed back to Sunday. The Red River was at 40.82 feet Saturday morning, and for the next week it could be bouncing within a couple of inches of 41 feet, meaning the agonizing will continue for several days in the Fargo area.
No major levee breaches or other issues were reported during the night.
Officials said they were increasing the number of guard troops from 1,700 to 1,850 and bringing in 300 large bags that hold a ton of sand and could be dropped by helicopter into breaks in the levees.
Predator drones from the Grand Forks Air Force Base began flying overhead Saturday morning, providing officials bird's-eye views of the situation and allowing them to react quickly if flooding worsens.
"They will be up there for 10 hours today providing video of the flood situation," North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven said in an interview with The Associated Press.
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