Burgum declares flood emergency

Recent flooding caused by spring snowstorms and rain prompted North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to declare a statewide emergency on Monday, April 25.

"From flooding in the east to power outages affecting thousands of residents in the west, to record April snowfall depleting snow removal budgets and hitting ranchers hard during calving season, this April has been an extremely challenging month for all North Dakotans," said Burgum.

Here in Eddy County, the James and Sheyenne Rivers are barely being kept within their banks, and in some places have already spilled over. Just north of New Rockford, water from the James River has overcome the access road to the reservoir.

At the county commission meeting on May 3, Kris Skadberg handed out pictures of flooding on his land and other property in Rosefield Township, and Road Superintendent Todd Weber said a portion of 18th Street NE in Superior Township, between 71st Avenue NE and 72nd Avenue NE, had been closed due to flooding.

In other locations, such as the Archie and Jesse Campbell Memorial Park, the banks of the river have been all but consumed by the rising water.

The National Weather Service (NWS) of Grand Forks issued a "Hazardous Weather Outlook" in Eddy County beginning May 2.

According to the outlook, "While the rain has stopped, there will remain considerable overland flooding and river flooding across the area. Most widespread overland flooding is in northeastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota."

Near Kensal, meanwhile, NWS of Bismarck measured the depth of the James River to be 8.24 feet as of May 2, approximately a foot higher than it was the Friday before, and less than a foot from reaching the flood stage in that area.

Last summer's drought left the Sheyenne and James rivers extremely low before winter, which has likely spared the area from more severe flooding. Much of eastern North Dakota wasn't so lucky, however.

In Walsh County, emergency sandbag crews were forced into action as water flooded farmsteads, closed roads and threatened homes. A large portion of Highway 81 on the southern end of Minto, N.D. was completely overcome by water from the Forest River.

Burgum's emergency declaration directs state agencies to provide necessary resources to locations such as Walsh County, and makes the N.D. National Guard available for local and tribal governments.

In Pembina County, N.D. National Guard personnel were deployed with two black hawk helicopters, where they placed nearly 160 one-ton sandbags in the area as of May 3.

In a press release regarding his emergency declaration, Burgum said, "We appreciate the federal government considering these requests for assistance to help communities recover from these storms and build resiliency against future severe weather events."

Burgum added, "We're especially grateful for the whole-of-government response by our state agencies as well as the incredible efforts by local emergency managers, first responders, road crews, health care workers and others to protect the lives and property of all North Dakota citizens."