VALLEY CITY(AP) -- Valley City officials recommended people in the southwest part of the city evacuate early Monday while crews worked to fix a levee breach.
Emergency manager Kim Franklin said the leak was in an earthen levee along the Sheyenne River, near the Valley City State University sports complex.
Crews were working with heavy equipment to dig up the school's softball field to try to plug the leak, and were filling up a road parallel to the field as a backup.
Mayor Mary Lee Nielson said the work was going well but said the city wants to "err on the side of caution and get people out of harm's way" when possible.
Officials recommended evacuation for people living in an area running from Valley City's 6th Av. southwest to Miller Motors south to the Sheyenne River. Nielson said it's a large part of the city of about 6,500, though but she had no exact number of evacuees. She said officials are asking people who leave their homes to go to the Eagles Club and register.
ADVERTISEMENT
It was the second major problem with Valley City's dike system since Sunday. On Sunday night, crews shored up a dike in the northeast part of the city after finding a "bubble" of water underneath. Nielson said people in about 15 homes evacuated temporarily.
