North Dakota flooding

30 March 2009, 12:00 a.m. MDT

Sister Karrie Young, left from Sterling, Utah, and Sister Mallory Kendall, from Provo, Utah, missionaries serving in the Rapid City South Dakota Mission, help prepare sandbags in the Fargodome last week, The full-time sister missionaries spent four days volunteering as the city of Fargo fought to stave off the Red River as it reached record flood levels.

By Mark Beck, Church News staff writer

Members in the Fargo North Dakota Stake, along with the rest of the population in the region, are watching and waiting as floodwaters continue to top record levels along the Red River.

One member home has been destroyed by the flood as of March 30. No injuries to members or missionaries have been reported.

About 20 families in the two wards that cover the Fargo area have evacuated their homes, said Fargo Stake President Joel Ransom.

Sister Karrie Young, left, and Sister Mallory Kendall, missionaries serving in the Rapid City South Dakota Mission, stand in front of the Red River in Minnesota with the city of Fargo in the background.

"Most of those live between the main dikes and the contingency dikes," President Ransom said.

Those families are staying with other Church members in the area.

Water levels along the Red River in Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., have dropped slightly in recent days, but the forecast in the area is for up to 14 inches with 35 mph winds between Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31, evening. Engineers are worried that wind-whipped waves may weaken sand-bagged levees.

North Dakota flooding. | Associated Press

Priesthood leaders are planning ongoing service projects to respond to the affected areas.