MINOT, N.D. - Thousands of Minot residents are facing an evening deadline to leave their homes as the rising Souris River moves closer to swamping the North Dakota city.
Officials have ordered about 11,000 people, or a quarter of the city's residents, to evacuate by 6 p.m.
But they say they're prepared to sound warning sirens if water spills over Minot's protective levees any earlier.
The Souris River loops down from Canada through north central North Dakota.
It's bloated by heavy spring snowmelt and rain on both sides of the border and will top Minot's levees within two days.
