HELENA, Mont. -- Crews and residents frustrated by a week of major flooding across Montana cleared debris from roads and some muddied homes on Saturday, even as they braced for more heavy rainfall expected during the Memorial Day weekend.
A respite in weather that has brought as much as 8 inches of rain in a few days to some areas of the state had allowed waters to recede slightly in several flooded communities, giving emergency crews the chance to fix water-damaged roads, though they said some would not be repaired before the water is expected to rise again.
But the break in the rain looked to be brief with the National Weather Service predicting up to 3 inches of rain today through Monday.
Meteorologist Keith Meier warned the moisture would raise floodwaters. High temperatures and melting snow next week likely will swell rivers for even longer, he said.
Authorities have started releasing massive volumes of water from overburdened reservoirs. The releases, coupled with the floodwaters, are predicted to move downstream and cause flooding in the Dakotas and possibly Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.
In Bismark, N.D., where the Missouri River was at a flood stage of 16 feet on Saturday, Mayor John Warford said rain and increased water releases from the Garrison Dam had altered flooding models for the region, but he doesn't know how much.
Levees are being built to protect the city to 21 feet, he said.
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple also said Saturday the Federal Emergency Management Agency had expanded its federal emergency declaration to include seven state counties and an Indian reservation fighting rising water on the Missouri River.
In Montana, declarations of a state of emergency have been made in 51 counties, towns and Indian reservations.
The governor deployed National Guard soldiers to the Crow Reservation, one of the hardest-hit areas, a day after touring the area.
The guardsmen set up unarmed security checkpoints on the Crow Reservation on Saturday to help with the emergency response.
Crow Tribe officials earlier in the week requested National Guard aid after heavy rainfall put much of the reservation under water and left residents stranded.
