In 2011 Minot and the Souris River Basin experienced a flood of a magnitude few, if any, thought possible. Since the lengthy and costly 1969 flood three reservoirs above the city were either constructed or revised to improve flood control. Lake Darling’s aging spillway was replaced with a higher dam and control structure complete with large gates for better water control. Lake Darling is located on the Souris River northwest of Minot.

Two new dams were constructed in Saskatchewan Alameda Dam at Oxbow and Rafferty Dam at Estevan. Alameda is fed by Moose Mountain Creek, a major tributary of the Souris, and Rafferty by the Souris itself. The two Canadian dams were funded primarily with U.S. dollars with the stipulation that a specified amount of storage in each reservoir be devoted to storage of flood water.

Those changes, along with berms or dikes along the Souris through Minot, and a series of coffer dams constructed within the city, were all part of a flood control project designed to protect against future flooding in Minot and throughout the Souris River Basin. In 2011 snowmelt and rainfall combined to overload the entire drainage, less than 16 years after flood protection was completed.

“There will be flooding in the City of Minot.” Col. Michael Price, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Reservoirs have no capacity to store further inflows.” Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.

Those two statements were made May 31, 2011, as the Souris River continued its unprecedented rise throughout its entire basin. Minot was in imminent danger of flood levels that would make the previous record flood of 1969 look like a puddle in comparison.

The following day, June 1, 2011, Minot city officials ordered a mandatory evacuation. An estimated 10,000 residents in the city’s flood plain were told to “get out of harm’s way as soon as possible.”

The announcement was followed by an onslaught of trucks, pickup, trailers of all sorts, virtually anything that could be used to haul household goods, on the streets of the city. Trailers were backed up onto lawns and into driveways. People left work to begin the hasty work of emptying their homes of as many items as possible. Many businesses shut down to allow as employees rushed home. Traffic was difficult in much of the city.

People with storage areas on high ground, such as garages or sheds, gave them up to relatives and friends and people in need. Volunteers ascended upon the city to lend whatever help they could. Farm trucks used to haul seed to the elevator and stock trailers were seen throughout the city being filled with furniture and other household items. People were mad and upset but had no time to do anything other than work at emptying their homes of valuable belongings.

Some people had few friends or resources available to them. Some were too old to evacuate property. Many left their homes with only a few cherished personal items such as photographs or family heirlooms. Some people were away from their homes on vacation or for other reasons and moved nothing at all.

Businesses scrambled too. No one knew for certain how high the water would be, or refused to believe that the historic flood of 1969 would be surpassed by several feet. Some people believed their property would remain protected behind sandbags only to learn later that their efforts were completely futile in the face of monumental flooding.

Rainfall caused the Des Lacs River to rise seven feet in 24 hours. The Des Lacs merges with the Souris at Burlington, a community that had already suffered extensive flooding from the Des Lacs.

Minot officials announced they expected a flow in the Souris of 10,000 cubic feet per second and boldly announced that dikes would be raised and the city would “fight the flood at the riverbank.”

A new National Weather Service flood forecast called for a flow of 9,400 cfs at Minot’s Broadway Bridge. Lake Darling was releasing 4,800 cfs. The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority announced that work was necessary with the U.S. on a “longer term plan to re-establish some flood protection in the reservoirs.”

The following day volunteer evacuees in Burlington were allowed to return to their homes. Lake Darling was releasing 5,400 cfs. Releases from Saskatchewan dams totaled 8,000 cfs yet the Corps of Engineers told City Hall to expect a flow of 6,000 cfs at Sherwood, a reporting point further downstream. It was the first of many examples of conflicting information in regard to river flows.

Even though Saskatchewan reservoirs had been releasing 8,000 cfs for several consecutive days and were continuing to do so, Minot’s evacuated residents were told they could return to their homes. Lake Darling, the last reservoir on the Souris above Minot, was very close to capacity and sending 6,000 cfs of water toward the city. There were other sources of water entering the Souris above Minot, the Des Lacs and Gasman Coulee among them.

While the river was rising upstream and the final protective reservoir on the Souris within inches of capacity, city leaders made the decision to remove some dikes in Minot. A ring dike protecting Lincoln School was hauled away. So too was a secondary dike that had been constructed along 16th Street. Joshua Scheck, National Weather Service meteorologist, warned that rainfall virtually anywhere in the massive drainage would create another rise in the Souris. The facts, the warnings and the actions were in obvious conflict.

The day after Minot evacuees were allowed to return home the fourth highest flow on record was recorded upstream at the Sherwood gauge, 8,230 cfs, considerably more than the 6,000 cfs projected by the Corps. With that much water flowing into Lake Darling releases from that facility were upped to 6,400 cfs in an effort to prevent spillover and uncontrolled flooding. Lake Darling had slightly more than one foot of storage remaining, an amount that could easily be filled in half a day.

By June 9 the situation had become even more dire. Lake Darling upped releases to a then astounding 7,500 cfs in an attempt to slow an inevitable rise that would lead to horrific consequences for Minot. Allen Schlag, NWS hydrologist, issued a strong warning.

“The river is full. The dams are full and we’ll be riding that edge of vulnerability of very large precipitation events. That makes me nervous,” said Schlag.

In previous years the NWS had feared an intense thunderstorm centered over critical drainage areas could cause additional river rises and severe flooding. However, in 2011 the target area for rainfall covered thousands of square miles due to high water levels at all points of the drainage. This was a bullet, warned the NWS, that Minot might not be able to dodge.

The following day the Corps increased releases from Lake Darling to 8,100 cfs, again to prevent the possibility of overflow and a complete loss of any control of water destined for Minot. At a City Hall press conference Mayor Curt Zimbelman announced releases from Saskatchewan dams had been cut to 5,130 cfs. It was a number he said he had received during a briefing with the Corps. An Estevan website placed the number at 6,178 cfs.

The Minot Daily News called the latest releases from Lake Darling “unprecedented and an 11th hour effort to lower Lake Darling.”

“If Darling fills, if there is no storage, Minot is as susceptible to flooding as a town with no dam,” said Scheck.

On June 11 Lake Darling releases were dropped to 7,800 cfs. The following day the river reading at Broadway Bridge was 1,553.3 feet, the high point for the season. On June 13 Lake Darling was within one foot of spilling and filling was projected.

“You are living one day at a time because each rainstorm is a bullet that needs to be dodged,” said Scheck at a city presser.

Two days later, on a Wednesday, Zimbelman told the city that Saskatchewan dam releases had decreased to 3,730 cfs, citing the Corps of Engineers. The number according to Saskatchewan sources was 5,118 cfs. The flow at Broadway Bridge was 8,400 cfs. Then the inevitable spring rainstorm struck in southern Saskatchewan. Just as the NWS had warned, there was no place to store the rampaging water.

By Sunday, June 19 releases from Saskatchewan dams reached more than 19,000 cfs. The following day Lake Darling releases were upped to 8,600 cfs and word arrived that nearly 24,000 cfs was coming down the river valley from Saskatchewan. The worst fears of forecasters and river residents had been realized. There was no stopping the water.

“Rating curves just don’t apply anymore,” said Schlag.

On Monday, June 20 Minot’s valley residents were again ordered out of their homes. The following day releases from Saskatchewan dams totaled nearly 29,000 cfs, nearly three times the amount of water the City of Minot was preparing to fight. At a hastily called press conference Major Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, N.D. National Guard, bluntly assessed the situation.

“What I see right now is probably the most devastating in terms of the number of people directly impacted and what it will do to damage homes as water begins to overtop the levees and fill in behind,” said Sprynczynatyk.

There was little time for Minoters to get out of the way. A deadline for evacuations was set for 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 22 and then moved up to 6 p.m. Sirens sounded throughout the city well before the 6 p.m. deadline, a final signal to move to high ground. National Guard troops conducted neighborhood searches to insure people were out of danger and complying with the evacuation order.

“We’re looking at another seven feet of water,” said a weary Zimbelman.

The Souris at Sherwood peaked June 24 at 29,700 cfs, more than twice the previous record set in 1976. Lake Darling was releasing an incredible 26,000 cfs. Water began flowing into the city.

“It’s a stupendous amount of water for the Souris,” said Schlag. “The cat is way out of the bag and there’s a lot of pain heading towards Minot.”

The following day the Minot Daily News had a photograph of flooded Minot homes on the front page. The headline read simply, “Swamped”. An estimated 4,000 homes and businesses were flooded. Many of the homes had three to four feet of muddy water on the main floor. Some had water up to their shingled roofs.

The huge and rapid flows brought an immense amount of mud into the city. There was the distinctive smell of sewage in many areas. From the air, oil and gasoline slicks were visible at numerous locations. The First District Health Unit issued a “boil order” for Minot’s water supply.

On Saturday, June 25 Zimbelman announced that the crest had been reached at Broadway Bridge and the Souris would begin a slow decline. It would be weeks before residents could return to what was left of their flood ravaged homes. For many it was too devastating an experience to bear. The river had destroyed thousands of structures. Cleanup would take months, rebuilding much, much longer.

In the aftermath of the flood there were countless residents who either went deep into debt to rebuild their homes or simply walked away from their life’s effort to start again elsewhere. Today, five years after the biggest disaster to ever strike the city of Minot, the repair work continues. River management plans remain virtually the same as they were prior to the 2011 flood and increased flood protection within the city remains, primarily, on the drawing board.