FARGO (AP) -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending a 25-person team to North Dakota to help fight the flooding threat, which might worsen with a storm bearing down on the state.
Flooding already was occurring in some areas on Saturday. The western part of Mott was evacuated when the Cannonball River began overflowing its banks, and water also was reported flowing over some county and township roads in Hettinger and Morton counties.
Mott Mayor Troy Mosbrucker said a city meeting was held Wednesday to get ready for the flooding, and things went smoothly Saturday. "We were well prepared," he said.
FEMA spokeswoman Laurie Hassell said the "advance emergency response" team from Denver was to arrive Monday. It will be based at the state emergency operations center in Bismarck.
"We'll have people in Fargo, Grand Forks and wherever they are needed to work alongside the state and local specialists and officials," she said.
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A storm moving into North Dakota from the Pacific could increase the flood threat. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch in western and central North Dakota from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, and a blizzard watch in the region Monday and Tuesday.
The storm was expected to drop an inch or two of rain in the Red River Valley as it moved east, from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday. The precipitation was expected to turn to snow on Tuesday night before ending Wednesday.
The flooding threat is greatest in eastern North Dakota, with a possible Red River crest in Fargo half a foot higher than the historic 1997 spring flood. Officials and volunteers are working to fill more than 2 million sandbags before the crest, which is expected as early as next weekend.
The river reached the flood stage in Fargo of 18 feet at 9:15 p.m. Friday, according to the weather service. Minor flooding was occurring and major flooding was forecast.
In Mott, seven families -- a total of 15 people -- were evacuated Saturday, Mosbrucker said. The Red Cross put up one family in a local hotel, and the others all had previously arranged for someplace to go, he said.
"We were sort of expecting this," he said. In 1997, the last time the area flooded, "we were moving people out with water running at our feet. We weren't going to have that happen this time."
The rest of Mott was protected by a dike, Mosbrucker said. Sandbags filled Thursday were being used to protect the evacuated houses along the river.
"I'm glad we prepared the way we did," Mosbrucker said.
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Separately, FEMA has denied a request that Gov. John Hoeven made in mid-February for a presidential disaster declaration to deal with the heavy and sometimes record snowfall in the state this winter.
FEMA spokesman Jerry DeFelice said the request did not meet the necessary criteria, because dealing with the snowfall was not deemed to be beyond the capacity of state and local governments. The state is considering an appeal.
DeFelice said the matter is separate from the flood-fighting effort.
