Towner Faces Flooding

It was inevitable Towns south of andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t minot-ndandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Minotandamp lt aandamp gt were going to get water and lots of it Granville and Towner are the latest victims to the Mouse River Dan Erdmann was out there today and has more on the what may be the worst these towns have ever seen Dan Erdmann KX News They watched as communities up-stream battled the water all the while knowing it was only a matter of time before they joined the fight Dean Wittmayer Granville Area Resident andamp quot It s pretty bad Nobody s ever seen it like this Even the old-timers say it s the worst they ve seen I guess andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Dean Wittmayer lives on this farm just West of Granville and over the past week he s watched as water rose higher and higher until finally spilling over the road to his house He says today is the first day he s been able to drive across it but it s definitely not the only road affected by the high water Dean Wittmayer Granville Area Resident andamp quot This is a creek that runs through here it comes from north of andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t surrey-ndandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Surreyandamp lt aandamp gt all the way up to Buffalo Lodge Lake and it s went down quite a bit from when it s been the highest It s been probably four feet from what you see now It s washed out every bridge from here to the lake north of Surrey and nobody s had any way to get back and forth across the roads andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Wittmayer says he was forced to find other means of transportation Dean Wittmayer Granville Area Resident andamp quot I was using a boat to get back and forth to Granville to my truck to get to work I guess There was three mornings I had to use the boat to get out but I couldn t get around at all andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News In fact travel has been limited throughout much of andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t mchenry-county-ndandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt McHenry Countyandamp lt aandamp gt County Road 12 which runs north of Granville was closed after water spilled over in several spots Workers are now trying to repair the surface before it can be opened again East of Granville more rural roads have been shut down due to water damage and the problem isn t limited to gravel and asphalt Water eroded the soil beneath these train tracks halting all rail travel along this route andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t north-dakotaandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt North Dakotaandamp lt aandamp gt Highway 14 near Towner has also been closed for travel after water from the Mouse climbed its surface as well Despite the closures McHenry County Sheriff Marv Sola feels things are looking pretty good so far Marv Sola McHenry Co Sheriff andamp quot I think overall everybody s holding their own There s a couple houses that I know of that have been lost can t get to em yet of course right now but to my knowledge we haven t lost any life or anything yet andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Sola says a couple near the Highway 14 closure was forced to evacuate their home last night but the andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t red-crossandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Red Crossandamp lt aandamp gt is providing them housing at a hotel Water broke through the farm s clay dike yesterday and Sola says within minutes a familiar crew was there to help Marv Sola McHenry Co Sheriff andamp quot They owe a great deal to their high school students Those kids will come in and I know places they ve walked through mud and water to get there and they go to work and it s just awesome to watch andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Crews will be monitoring several homes over the next few days as an official crest passes through the area Sola knows they have a lot of work to do but he says for now they re forced to wait until the water recedes Marv Sola McHenry Co Sheriff andamp quot I think then everything will be geared up to try to put it all back together again andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Near Towner Dan Erdmann KX news FULL ESS The river in Towner is at 56 feet as of eight this morning it is expected to crest at 56-point-seven between now and Monday