The bridge and portions of Second Street north of First Avenue and south of Main Avenue have been closed since April 4 because of flooding.

Water is still touching the Second Street levee, and crews will leave a small strip of clay in place as they remove the levee just in case the Red River comes back up 1 or 2 feet, said Dave Johnson, Fargo’s deputy city engineer.

It took crews working around the clock 3½ days to install the levee, so Johnson estimated it will take five or six days to remove it “if the water cooperates.”

Story courtesy The Forum… click the link to read more.

Crews begin removal of Fargo’s Second Street levee [Inforum]

To be eligible, the property owner must have had a claim filed with their own insurance company. Claims must be submitted to the City of Fargo Planning Department by June 30, 2011.

The application form and additional information are available online at http://www.cityoffargo.com/flood.

We have all the updated road closings on our Road Closure page.

Residents with sandbag dikes in their back yards are asked to leave the dikes in place until all contingency pallets have been removed from their neighborhoods and floodwaters are off the sandbag dikes. This will prevent mixing of used and unused bags. The City of Fargo intends to save unused bags for flood protection efforts in the future.

For more information on sandbag and dike removal, visit the City of Fargo flood Web site at www.cityoffargo.com/flood.

City and Cass County leaders this afternoon gave updates on the flood situation in Fargo and in Cass County. Fargo leaders said the river is acting as expected, and levees in Fargo seem to be holding up as planned.

Walaker credits Fargo’s rediness this year to this flood being Fargo third major flood in three years. And with this year’s flood the fourth largest in Fargo’s history, cresting Saturday at 38.75 feet, the hard work seems it has paid off.

But the flood fight is not over yet.

Jim Scarlett from the National Weather Service says the river will be staying high. The river is forecasted to remain above 36 feet until at least next Sunday.

As far as this weekend’s rain effecting river levels, Scartlet said once again the river will not rise, but it will not drop anytime soon.

“The rain this weekend will only prolong the high waters in Fargo,” Scarlet said.

Scarlet went on to expain there is no signifcant rainfall coming after this rain system passes, which is good news for river in the valley.

“Cass County will have high water until the Sheyenne and other tributaries to the Red can fully pass through all the water,” Walaker said.

Elsewhere in Cass County, the story is much different. Over 60 miles of roads in Cass County are impassible due to flood waters. Sheriff Paul Laney asks drivers to be VERY cautious when driving in Cass County. He added that most of the roads that are impassible are blocked off to traffic.

“Most of the damage to Cass County from the flood will be to the roads,” Laney said.

And if county roads underwater weren’t bad enough, over seven miles of Interstate 29, from Harwood to Argusville, are covered in 3-4 inches of water on all four lanes.

“The D.O.T. has a tough decision to make about I-29 tonight,” Laney said.

“This is huge… it’s a 40 mile detour go north with that closed.” Walaker added.

Leaders from Fargo and Cass County will do another update Monday morning at 8 A.M.; we will have live streaming of that meeting here on Valley Flood Watch.

This morning at the Fargo Flood Meeting, Jim Scarlett from the National Weather Service said Fargo should receiving anywhere from 3/4″ to 1″ on rain. This will effect the river, but it will not increase the river level, it will just keep it high, Scarlett said.

Rain or no rain, the National Guard is ready to go. Nearly 400 Guardsmens and Women in Fargo and Cass County assisting in the flood fight. They spent the night putting the finishing touches on clay levees along the river and south of town. Everything should be secure, but just in case, the National Guard has two response teams ready to handle any flood emergency that may come up.

Outside Fargo in Cass County, residents along the Red River are doing alright, however those who live along other river systems in the county are struggling; this is due to the Maple River cresting at a record level, and not lowering any time soon.

Cass County said Coast Guard boats are already in Cass County, with Game and Fish boats arriving today. They also mentioned that sandbags from Fargo are available to Cass County residents, just contact the county to receive them.

The county also mentioned an extreme level of overland flooding north of Fargo and West Fargo. Residents are saying they have never seen levels this high.

Back in Fargo, Fargo is again asking residents to stay off levees, as they are obviously crucial to the flood fight. Fargo is also asking residents to conserve water. There is no official notice or warning, however “every little bit helps” to reduce strain on the sewer system.

Both the City and Cass County are asking anyone who wants to volunteer over the weekend to contact FirstLink at 476-4000.

To ensure the integrity of flood protection measures, National Guard members and Fargo firefighters are walking dikes around the clock. City of Fargo engineers are inspecting earth levees and sandbag dikes to ensure their integrity.

[City of Fargo Press Release]

With nearly 450,000 sandbags delivered Monday and Tuesday, and more expected today, about 1,400 students from Fargo’s public and private schools and West Fargo will be in neighborhoods to build levees.

This morning, Fargo officials discussed the city’s efforts and plans in the Spring 2011 flood fight.

Mayor Dennis Walaker urged residents to avoid complacency, despite the city’s advance efforts, as the Fargo-Moorhead area prepares for Red River reaching 39 to 41 feet this weekend.

Story courtesy The Forum.. click the link to read the rest of the story.

Strong storm looms as Fargo urges volunteers to button up city by Friday [Inforum]