MOORHEAD - Overland flooding and the rising Buffalo River caused rural Clay County residents to ramp up their flood-fighting efforts Monday.
Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist reports that county employees have delivered 100,000 sandbags to townships around the county so far. Township officials will distribute bags as individuals need them.
Some smaller township roads are under water in the county. Unseasonably cold temperatures have prevented snow from melting in ditches, which has blocked water from running through ditches and into the river as it normally would, Bergquist said.
"There is definitely a lot of water all over," Bergquist said. "A lot of fields are flooded."
He said Clay County deputies had to recover a snowmobile stranded in the middle of a flooded field on Saturday just off County Road 10 east of Sabin. One Clay County resident reported that his outbuildings had flooded. Passers-by also spotted a damaged car in a flooded ditch right off Highway 75 north of Kragnes Monday morning.
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Bergquist said that if rural residents need sandbags, they should call township officials.
The National Weather Service projects that the Buffalo River near Dilworth could crest at about 24.5 feet on Friday or Saturday and at 17.3 feet on Wednesday near Sabin.
