[Just north of the Missouri River, another, smaller river has been smashing flood records, propelled by the same combination of snow pack and heavy rains.  In the oil boomtown of Minot, North Dakota, the Souris River (French for “mouse”, which has produced the local nickname “the Mouse”) has reached thirteen feet over flood stage — four feet above the previous record set in 1881 — and poured over flood defenses erected in the wake of damaging 1969 floods.  Though the floodwaters crested early on the morning of the 26th, they have been dropping slowly, putting intense pressure on emergency levees and leaving both residents and work crews with a slow, tense wait until the waters recede.

In the photo above, an Army Corps of Engineers contractor’s crane is shown lost to floodwaters during emergency levee building efforts in Minot.]