Thousands move out as river seeps into ND town

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43492649/ns/weather/

updated 19 minutes ago

MINOT, N.D. — Driving away with what they could fit in their vehicles, thousands of Minot residents left their homes on Wednesday amid blaring sirens and floodwater that overtopped or seeped through some levees.

Steve and Michelle Benjamin were among the nearly 12,000 ordered out.

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Michelle Benjamin, 46, stood on the deck along the rising Souris River, watching water trickle over the dike.

"Oh my God," she said as she fought back tears. "It's not easy starting over at this age."
The river, which begins in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and flows for a short distance though North Dakota, was all but certain to inundate thousands of homes and businesses during the next week.

The deluge was expected to far exceed a 1969 flood, possibly reaching 13.5 feet above flood stage by Monday. The river is expected to top the historical record set in 1881 by at least seven feet.

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The massive flooding on the Souris River, which flows into the Red River basin, struck as residents from Montana through Missouri battle Missouri River flows that threaten the North Dakota capital of Bismarck, the South Dakota capital of Pierre and other communities for hundreds of miles downstream.

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