Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., will travel to Oslo, Minn., at 1:30 p.m. today for a ground tour of the town's levee system with Mayor Scott Kosmatka and also flooding over Minnesota Highway 1 and North Dakota Highway 54. Dayton also will visit the Emergency Operations Center to meet with City Council members and the public.
Kosmatka said he hopes to discuss raising the flood-prone highways with the governor.
"There was an agreement made back in the early '80s where some farmers in North Dakota sued some farmers in Minnesota over dike heights and water levels, and we're just trying to look into that," Kosmatka said.
"After 30 years, it's time for a change."
Ransom County added to declaration
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The Federal Emergency Declaration issued for North Dakota on April 7 has been expanded to include Ransom County.
"We realize the impact flooding is having on Ransom County," FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Willie Nunn stated in a news release. "This declaration allows the federal government to provide life-saving and life-sustaining resources where needs are identified by state and local officials."
Nine North Dakota counties are included in the declaration: Barnes, Cass, Grand Forks, Pembina, Ransom, Richland, Traill, Walsh and Ward.
New flooding pattern in Pembina County
After touring Walhalla, Neche and Pembina, Pembina County Emergency manager Jill Pedersen said this year's flooding pattern is surprising.
"We did notice some water between Neche and Pembina on the north and south side of (County Road) 55 and that was really different," Pedersen said. "We're checking to see if there are any logjams, because there's water in places that's really unusual, and there's farms where there's usually water and it's bone dry."
Pedersen said she plans to ask the N.D. State Water Commission whether they've noticed a difference.
N.D. Highway 14 closes
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North Dakota Highway 14 two miles north of Upham closed at 7 p.m. Friday, the North Dakota Department of Transportation reported. Local traffic only will be allowed between the junctions of U.S. Highway 2 and N.D. Highway 5.
