Ice Jam Causes Flooding

Air National Guard helicopters land demolition crews on the Missouri River, near Bismarck, N.D., Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Demolition crews blasted chunks of ice near a huge ice jam in the Missouri River on Wednesday in a bid to open a channel, like pulling out a giant plug to drain a flood threatening the city.

Members of the North Dakota National Guard stand on the bank of the Missouri River near holes in the ice that were created by a series of explosive charges in an effort to open the river on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in Bismarck, N.D. A demolition crew blasted Missouri River ice to force a thick ice jam to move south. Officials likened the move to pulling a giant plug to drain flood waters away from southwest Bismarck.

Large sheets of ice jam the swollen Missouri River north of Bismarck, N.D. on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Extensive flooding in low lying areas forced residents in communities close to the river to evacuate.

Icy flood waters cover the streets at Skyway Park Village in south Bismarck, N.D., Wednesday, March 25, 2009.

A pickup plows through deep water in Bismarck, N.D., on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Some south Bismarck residents who live near the Missouri River were forced to evacuate their homes when an ice jam caused unexpected flooding.

A canoe sits in icy water near a flooded home in Bismarck, N.D., Tuesday, March 24, 2009. As the Red River torments Fargo, the Missouri has beset Bismarck.

Flood water from the Missouri River surrounds a home in the Fox Island neighborhood of Bismarck, N.D., on Tuesday, March 24, 2009.