Lower projection on Red upstream may help Fargo

An unexpected dip in the Red River along the Minnesota-North Dakota line has cheered sandbaggers struggling to raise Fargo's protective dikes high enough to withstand a possible record flood.

Tuesday, March 24th 2009, 11:41 am

By: News 9

Lower projection on Red upstream may help Fargo

FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- An unexpected dip in the Red River along the Minnesota-North Dakota line has cheered sandbaggers struggling to raise Fargo's protective dikes high enough to withstand a possible record flood.
   The National Weather Service on Tuesday lowered its crest forecast for Wahpeton, N.D., and Breckenridge, Minn., downward to 18 feet by Wednesday morning, well below the tops of those cities' dikes.
   Meteorologist Jim Kaiser called it "definitely good news."
   But he said it's too early to say whether the Red's projected crest at Fargo, 30 miles north of Wahpeton and Breckenridge, would also be lowered.
   The Red is expected to crest Saturday at Fargo at 39 to 41 feet. That's at least a half-foot above the record set in 1997.