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Moorhead Asks For Volunteers; Sets 1M Sandbag Goal

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) -- Moorhead is calling for volunteers starting Tuesday to help make 1 million sandbags to hold back flooding expected this spring.

But the job will be easier than in years past. Minnesota Public Radio reports Moorhead had two custom-designed machines built to make filling sandbags safer and more efficient.

Mayor Mark Voxland says paid workers will run the machines, and conveyor belts will load the 30- to 50-pound bags into trucks.

But the city says volunteers are still needed to stack sandbags on pallets that will be delivered to flood-affected properties, and again later to build sandbag dikes to protect flood-prone homes.

Moorhead expects to fill 1 million sandbags in 10 days. Across the Red River, Fargo, N.D., is nearly halfway to its goal of 3 million sandbags.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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