Officials: Missouri River down in Bismarck, ND

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Officials say the swollen Missouri River has dropped 2 feet, easing the flood threat to the city of Bismarck.

A demolition crew had blasted an ice jam Wednesday that was causing water to back up behind it. Also, the National Guard says tributaries feeding the river have gone down.

Guard officials says the river dropped 2 feet Wednesday, after a peak of 16.1 feet the day before.

Bismarck’s director of operations, Keith Demke, says officials have canceled a request for sandbaggers to work on a dike to protect the Tatley Meadows mobile home court. About 1,000 residents live there.

Demke says the dike was planned as extra protection but it’s no longer needed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) _ As the Red River rises into “uncharted territory,” officials Thursday pleaded for thousands of volunteer sandbaggers, readied their evacuation plans, and vowed to build the dikes a foot higher than planned in an effort to hold back the water.

After days of predicting the Red River would crest between 39 and 41 feet, the National Weather Service settled on the higher number Wednesday _ raising new concern among residents.

Mayor Dennis Walaker described 41 feet as “uncharted territory,” noting the Red’s record high at Fargo was 40.1 feet in 1897. Walaker said he was still confident the city would beat the flood, but that contingency plans were needed.

“We’re into the contingency dikes now, and what they are is a secondary dike to protect the city in case the first line of defense fails,” Walaker told the CBS “Early Show” Thursday morning.

Officials said they would build their dikes a foot higher than planned, to 43 feet. The city also said it would distribute evacuation information to residents on Thursday _ just in case. The river was projected to crest on Saturday afternoon.

Police Chief Keith Ternes urged people with disabilities to consider leaving the city, saying: “If they expect us to get to them and get them out, they should give serious consideration.” Hospital officials were also identifying patients that might need to be moved early.

Officials in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn., put out another call for volunteers. Fargo requested more than 2,000 volunteers to complete sandbag dikes.

To the west, officials in Bismarck were battling ice jams in the Missouri River. Demolition crews blasted chunks of ice Wednesday in a bid to open a channel, like pulling out a giant plug to drain a flood threatening the city. Officials planned two more rounds of explosives.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” Bismarck Mayor John Warford said after explosives detonated on about 500 feet of ice just south of the jam.

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