Flooding forces evacuation of 1,300 in North Dakota town

5/22/2013

BISMARCK, N.D.  — More than a thousand people have evacuated their homes in northeastern North Dakota as rain-fed floodwaters threaten a dam on the Tongue River.

Officials have been working to shore up the Renwick Dam west of Cavalier, 85 miles north of Grand Forks, and said today that the structure held overnight. All 1,300 Cavalier residents evacuated their homes on Tuesday, as well as some of the 160 residents of nearby Crystal who were concerned about floodwaters coursing through the town.

Officials have fortified an emergency levee in Grafton, about 30 miles to the south, as the Park River there nears a record crest. The city has a population of about 4,500 people.

The state Transportation Department has closed state Highway 18 at Neche and near Cavalier due to the flooding.