Jerry Sampson tosses down a sandbag as he and other volunteers shore up the sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive in Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday, March 26. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP Images)

North Dakota Braces for Historic Floods

Volunteers battle weather and time to build up defenses against rising waters

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Along the banks of the Red River in Fargo, North Dakota, residents are preparing for historic flooding.

Months of rain and recent heavy snowfalls have caused the Red River to reach flood levels. Over the past few days, the river has risen about an inch per hour. And if forecasters are correct, the worst is yet to come.

The Red River is expected to crest today. And when it does, it could top out at 41 feet. If that happens, it will be the worst flooding on record in Fargo.

But in this city of 90,000, the most populous in North Dakota, volunteers are confronting the challenge and banding together to save homes, property, and lives.

People from across North Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois have gone to Fargo to join in the flood fight. Senior citizens, middle-aged adults, college students, and grade-school kids have all volunteered to save Fargo from the rising waters.

Volunteers have joined state and local emergency officials and the North Dakota National Guard to fill sandbags. They have used these sandbags to build a 12-mile-long, 43-foot-high dike to protect Fargo from the rising waters.

But their efforts have been slowed by the bad weather currently hitting the city. Temperatures are in the 20s, and more than eight inches of snow has fallen there.

These conditions led forecasters to adjust their predictions about the flooding.

They originally thought the river would top out at 40 feet. Fargo's protective wall was built to sustain that level of water. But after the prediction was bumped up another foot, volunteers began racing against the clock to get one more foot of wall built before the worst flooding occurs.

The bad weather has also created difficult work conditions. It could also neutralize the protection of the wall of sandbags being built to contain floodwaters.

"If we leave [the sandbags] sitting outside for too long, they become like blocks of concrete and they're hard to work with, and they don't really work for flood protection at that point," Captain Dave Todd of the Fargo Police Department told ABC News.

Another problem is ice.

To the west of Fargo, the Missouri River has been flooding, too. But giant chunks of ice dammed up the river, making the flooding worse and threatening Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota.

Some of the ice chunks in the Missouri were four feet thick and as large as cars.

Governor John Hoeven called in experts to use explosives to break up the ice. On Wednesday, two controlled explosions shattered some of the ice. The river began flowing again, but officials are determining whether the ice is still a problem, and if they need more explosions.

The flooding across the state began because of heavy rains in the fall. North Dakota is a flat state, and for months it was saturated with rain. That water fed into creeks and streams, which fed into the river.

The winter didn't bring relief. Heavy snows have fallen on the state, and they recently began melting. This water has added to the already swollen river.

Now, with even more snow falling and melting, the water in the river has reached historic levels.

Officials in Fargo are now preparing for the worst. Besides building a protective wall out of sandbags, they are drafting evacuation plans to protect residents who might not be able to leave their homes on their own.

President Barack Obama has also addressed the flooding in North Dakota. Obama signed an order on Tuesday night declaring 34 counties and two Native American reservations federal disaster areas. This gives the state access to federal aid and resources.

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