Cass County opens tactical operation center due to flooding

FARGO — With the worst of the spring flood expected to happen this weekend, Cass County is getting ready.

For the first time in three years, the county is opening its tactical operations center for the spring flood.

From sheriff's deputies, to the emergency management team, to county engineers, they are all tracking the rising water in one room.

"If we didn't have this setup someone calling looking for sandbags, if they called the dispatch center would have to forward that call to another person who might have to forward that call to another person, so it cuts that middle person out and get people directly to the resource that they need," said Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner.

With roads being closed and ditches filled with water, the Cass County emergency manager is asking people to sign up for CassClayAlerts . They could be critical in locating a sinking car more quickly.

"(The app) multiplies our force from the general public's eyes out there. When response time is critical, getting to those people in a rescue situation is certainly important for our responders," said Cass County emergency manager Jim Prochniak.

This weekend, the main focus of the operations center is the Harwood area and points south and east.

"There's still a lot of snow out there. There's a lot of ditches filled with water," Jahner said.

The command center is expected to remain open until the flood waters recede.

The Tactical Operations Center can be contacted directly at 701-241-8000.