Authorities in the North Dakota city of Minot told up to 12,000 residents on Wednesday to evacuate immediately because the rising Souris River is about to overflow flood levees, according to Reuters. Officials hastened the evacuation of a quarter of North Dakota's fourth largest city after flood defenses began to fail. The Souris River at Minot is expected to smash the previous flood record in 1881 by about 5 feet (1.5 metres) and reach up to nearly 8 feet (2.4 metres) higher than 1969 flooding local residents have been using as a benchmark as they prepare to evacuate. Heavy rains over the past six weeks have swelled Canadian reservoirs in the Souris River basin, forcing unprecedented water releases. In turn, U.S. officials must release water from the Lake Darling Dam above Minot at a rate more than double what the recently fortified protections can bear.
