Rural Cass County Faces Rising Flood Waters

The county has already distributed 80,000 sandbags

HARWOOD, N.D. — Conditions may look fine in a majority of the metro area, but in rural Cass County, that’s not the case.

Around Harwood, areas that were once roads or crop fields are turning into giant pools, and they’re not expected to disappear anytime soon.

The Sheyenne River is expected to crest at 91.5 feet in the next 24 hours.

It’s not just one river that’s causing the steadily rising water—it’s multiple rivers spilling out and interconnecting.

“We have the Maple River, the Rush River, the lower Rush, all trying to get into the Sheyenne. About five miles northeast of here is where the Sheyenne is trying to feed back into the Red. With the Red nearing crest, expected to be at 35 feet tomorrow, all this water’s backing up and flowing overland,” Jason Benson, Cass County Engineer, said.

Lots of roads have already been closed because of the flooding.

“This is going to happen a lot southwest and north of the Harwood area as roads get overtopped and people lose access,” Benson said.

Water has also completely covered a lot of farmland.

“If you come out here in a month from now the local farmer that farms this will be out planting,” Benson said.

To help protect people in rural areas, the County has distributed about 80,000 sandbags.

“There’s a lot of changing conditions as with culverts being frozen, and overland flooding so conditions can change very quickly,” Benson said.

Cass County says they’ve gotten several calls for emergency sandbags to be delivered over the past few days.

They want to remind people that it is more difficult to deliver sandbags in flood conditions when it’s dark.

Highway Department staff is ready to help, along with ten National Guard soldiers.