Watch CBS News

Twin Cities Expert: Minot's Flood Will Set A Record

By Courtney King, NewsRadio 830 WCCO and Jamie Yuccas, WCCO-TV

MINOT, N.D. (WCCO) -- The Souris River continues to rise in Minot, N.D., and residents are evacuating.

Steve Buan, a hydrologist with the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service, is monitoring water levels in Minot.

WCCO's Dave Lee Interviews Hydrologist Steve Buan

Podcast

"Right around noon Wednesday, maybe a little bit after, the water did start to come over the temporary levees they constructed back in April and May to feed the water back," he explained. "That's when they sounded the evacuation sirens."

Where is all the water coming from?

"This all came from 4-6 inches of rain that occurred upstream of the Souris River Tributary near Estevan, Saskatchewan over the weekend," he said.

According to Buan, the water really started to hit the international crossing at Sherwood, N.D. Wednesday morning and is working its way towards Minot. Peak levels are expected over the weekend.

"This will be an all-time record by several feet," said Buan.

He's predicting a crest that will be 7 feet higher than the flood of 1969.

An estimated 12,000 people have now left their homes.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.