Preparations to hold back flood waters are underway in Minnesota and neighboring states.
Fargo-Moorhead
Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney is asking residents to help fill 1 million sandbags as the city prepares for major flooding of the Red River.
The National Weather Service says "significant" snowmelt flooding is likely this spring in the Red River Valley after last week's massive late-winter storm.
But Mahoney says there are still areas that could be vulnerable, and that the sandbagging effort is scheduled to start on March 26.
Hastings
State and federal officials met with a battalion of Hastings emergency preparedness officials, where there's a good chance of record flooding within the next two weeks.
Flood forecasts are predicting the waters of the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers to reach levels not seen since 2001, or 1997, when the area was hit hard by floods
"What could be different this time around is we're much more engaged in social media," he said. "We'll have a lot more avenues of communication and outreach to utilize and keep people up to speed."
But they'll also need some old-fashioned elbow grease, filling sandbags and piling them high enough to keep the worst of the flooding out of streets, businesses, and homes.
That effort is expected to start in early April, or sooner.
Congresswoman Angie Craig, promising federal help if necessary, also pledged to help with sandbagging upriver in South St. Paul.
"I have never piled sandbags before," she said. "Looking forward to it. I know. It's hard work. It's hard work."
Minnesota Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly told the gathering that he'll be the contact person for the community to receive help from the state and federal level.
New Ulm
The Cottonwood River is overflowing its banks as it runs through Flandreau State Park and meets up with the Minnesota River on the south side of New Ulm.
The Cottonwood is at 17 feet, one foot above flood stage, and streets running adjacent to the river are submerged.
Jordan
The level on Sand Creek in Jordan dropped nearly 3 feet Sunday as workers cleared one blockage, but then another dam formed near a mobile home park where 300 households had evacuated last week.
About a dozen of those residents remained at a Red Cross shelter Sunday.