North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple requested help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday in conducting a preliminary assessment of damages caused by spring flooding throughout the state.
State, local and tribal officials have conducted initial flood damage assessments in 40 counties and the tribal nations of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and the Three Affiliated Tribes. Dalrymple asked FEMA Regional Administrator Robin Finegan to send an assessment team to begin verifying statewide flood damage.
To be eligible for FEMA cost-sharing assistance, the state must show that the costs of flood prevention measures and damages will total $1 million. The cost of this spring's flooding will far exceed FEMA's threshold, Dalrymple said.
Sorlie inspection continues
The Sorlie Bridge will open as soon as the Red River goes down and the Department of Transportation finishes its bridge inspection, which continued Wednesday, said Kevin Dean, public information officer with the City of Grand Forks.
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"We'd love for it to be open this weekend," Dean said Wednesday afternoon. "Obviously, with the Easter holiday it would be nice to have another bridge open between the two communities, but when you stop to look at it, it's not as though we're completely cut off from each other," since the Kennedy Bridge on Gateway Drive has remained open.
Flooded roads
According to the North Dakota Department of Transportation, the following areas/roadways are closed due to flooding:
N.D. Highway 18, a mile south of Neche is closed due to water over the roadway. Local traffic only is allowed from state Highway 5 to the closure point.
Rerouting of traffic at Neche port
All commercial and passenger traffic through the Neche, N.D., port of entry will be required to use an alternate route because of flooding, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Commercial and passenger vehicle traffic can use the ports of Pembina, N.D., to the east or Walhalla, N.D., to the west as alternates to N.D. Highway 18, which is closed one mile south of Neche.
