Flood Fight Front Lines

Workers struggle to pull an outlet hose for a pump over a dike at Oak Grove Lutheran school Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. The bloated Red River briefly breached a dike early Sunday, pouring water into the school campus and the mayor called it a "wakeup call" for a city that needs to be vigilant for weaknesses in levees that could give way at any time. Crews managed to largely contain the flooding to the school.

Oak Grove Lutheran school Principal Morgan Forness scrambles over a sandbag wall at the flooded school Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Fargo, N.D.

A woman wades past snow banks as she hefts sandbags to help stem flooding at the flooded Oak Grove Lutheran school Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Fargo, N.D.

Red River flooding is reflected in the visor of Sgt. First Class Todd Sudheimer with the Minnesota National Guard in St. Paul, Minn., as he looks out of his UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter south of Fargo, N.D., Sunday, March 29, 2009.

A house sits isolated by flood waters from the Red River near a large sheet of ice south of Fargo, N.D., Sunday, March 29, 2009.

A parishioner folds his hands in prayer for victims of the Red River flooding during a city wide worship service at the Ramada Plaza & Suites, Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Fargo, N.D.

Joe Bottrell shovels freezing floodwater that has seeped through a sandbag dike into his neighbors home as the Red River continues to rise, Friday, March 27, 2009, in Briarwood, N.D.

Volunteers shovel sand as seated volunteers fill sandbags at the Fargodome on Friday, March 27, 2009, in Fargo, N.D.

Jimie Miraldi, foreground, opens new bags for sand along with Kathleen Thompson, background left, and Jodi Backman, right, at the Fargodome as efforts to save Fargo, N.D., from the flooding Red River continue Friday, March 27, 2009.

Sara Litton describes how floodwaters have risen to threaten a neighborhood near Rose Creek Golf Course in Fargo, N.D., on Thursday, March 26, 2009. The Red River had risen to 40.32 feet early Friday -- more than 22 feet above flood stage and inches more than the previous high water mark of 40.1 feet recorded April 7, 1897.

Volunteers work to strengthen a weak area in a sandbag wall near Rose Creek Golf Course in Fargo, N.D., where floodwaters from the Red River have backfilled through Rose Creek threatening a many neighborhoods on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

Volunteers continue the sandbagging process as the Red River continues to rise on Friday, March 27, 2009, inside the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.

Bulldozers move clay to reinforce sandbag walls in a neighborhood near Rose Creek Golf Course in Fargo, N.D., where floodwaters from the Red River have backfilled through Rose Creek threatening many neighborhoods on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

A volunteer uses a pump to remove water seeping through a sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive, Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. North Dakota's largest city moved to the brink of potentially disastrous flooding Thursday, with earlier optimism fading as officials predicted the Red River would reach a record-high crest of 41 feet by the weekend.

Floating ice and water is seen from the overflow of the Red River in Moorhead, Minn., Thursday, March 26, 2009

Volunteers make their way back after volunteering to shore up a dike, Thursday, March 26, 2009, near Fargo, N.D.

Volunteers formed a line to pass sandbags to shore up a home in anticipation of the Red River cresting, Thursday, March 26, 2009, near Fargo, N.D.

Laurie and Willie Kirschner of Fargo, N.D. walk along 25th Street South in Fargo, N.D., where earthen dikes are being built across roads to restrain floodwaters from the Red River, on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

Volunteers make use of a ladder and other items to assist in filling sandbags as the Red River rises Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Moorhead, Minn.

Volunteer Eric Schoenherr uses a makeshift sleigh to move sandbags from a pickup to a nearby house along the rising Red River Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Moorhead, Minn.