MINOT, North Dakota (Reuters) – As record floodwaters began to ebb on Sunday, the swollen Souris River infiltrated the city of Minot's drinking water supply forcing officials to turn their attention disease prevention.
North Dakota Health Department officials ordered displaced residents in the region to drink from bottled water when possible, and to boil tap water before drinking it.
"People are getting the drinking water they need," said Dean Lenertz, a Minot city spokesman, adding that extensive tests would determine when they can lift the "boil order."
"There are plenty of sources for bottle water and people can boil water for a couple minutes and it's good to go," he added.
The order also directs residents not to use tap water to wash dishes, brush their teeth or make ice, and to shower with their eyes closed, Lenertz said.
Health Department officials do not know when the order will be lifted.
The Souris, which flows from Canada southeast into North Dakota, crested early on Sunday morning at almost four feet above the 130-year-old record it shattered on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
There have been no reported deaths or injuries in the biggest flood in area history but floodwaters have all but swallowed more than 3,000 homes and displaced more than 12,000 Minot-area residents.
"This storm is biblical for these people," said Father Chris Kadrmas, a priest at a Catholic church in Minot that held services on Sunday. "This has been a life changer," he added.
Kadrmas said community ties in Minot are strong and that residents would help one another overcome the disaster.
"Faith leads to hope, hope leads to charity," he said.
Jeffrey DeZellar, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said that floodwater remained high on Sunday, although there are no breaches in any dikes.
DeZellar added that rain dumped by thunderstorms late Saturday had pooled in shallow ponds on the land-side of some area levees forcing workers to wade or drive through them.
The storms did not cause any of the floodwater to surge over levees.
More thunderstorms are still possible on Sunday said Steve Goss, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
"Severe storms aren't likely, though, and it looks like the floods won't be aggravated by rainfall," Goss said.
Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said water levels would remain high for several days and praised the fortitude of the residents displaced by mandatory evacuations.
Authorities tried in vain to remove a walking bridge that collapsed in the middle of the river. The bridge remains stable but poses a threat to a downriver dam.
As the waters start to recede, officials' attention has turned to helping displaced residents, more than 12,000 of whom heeded mandatory evacuation calls.
Some moved in with friends or family, but more than 250 people were holed up in Red Cross shelters at a city auditorium and Minot State University or at the Minot Air Force Base.
More evacuees were reported from the towns of Turtle Lake, Velva and Sawyer, among others, according to Allan McGeough, executive director of the mid-Dakota chapter of the American Red Cross.
As many as 300 people in Velva will require shelter, McGeough said.
In Sawyer, about 16 miles southeast of Minot, 400 residents were told to evacuate on Saturday after river water rushed through a downtown roadway. The levees in Sawyer are holding.
Flood warnings have been issued throughout the region.
The massive flooding in Minot has overshadowed temporarily the widening deluge along the Missouri River that threatens cities all the way from Montana to Missouri.
Federal officials have pushed record water releases from six reservoirs along the Upper Missouri River that are near capacity because of a deep melting snowpack and heavy rains.
Those reservoirs have little capacity for additional rain, and record releases are expected to continue through August, causing widespread flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.
Heavy rains across the Souris River Basin left Canadian reservoirs over capacity. Water rushing down from Canada has forced U.S. officials to make record-large releases from the Lake Darling Dam above Minot and other communities.
(Writing by Eric Johnson; Editing by Tim Gaynor)
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