1. “IT’S TOO LATE TO SAVE OUR CITY FROM A FLOOD DISASTER” REALITY SETS IN AS THE SOURIS RIVER REACHES RECORD HEIGHTS IN NORTH DAKOTA (USA) June 24, 2011 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

2. JUNE 23: RELEASE OF WATER BEHIND DARLING DAM EXACERBATES SITUATION  As a result of heavy rainfall earlier in the week, the Army Corps of Engineers was forced on Thursday to accelerate water releases from the upstream Lake Darling dam

3. LEVEE BREACHED:JUNE 23, 2011

4. JUNE 24: THE FLOOD DISASTER IS UNFOLDING IN FRONT OF OUR EYES  At 11 a.m. local time, the Souris tied the 1881 record after rising 30 cm (11 in) in the previous hour, and broke it when it reached 1,558.52 feet above sea level at 12 p.m. Friday. (US Geological Survey).

5. JUNE 24: A FLOOD DISASTER IS UNFOLDING IN FRONT OF OUR EYES  More than 4,000 homes and 200 businesses left behind by evacuees in Minot, ND are expected to have significant water damage by day's end, with even worse impacts expected in the as the river crests at 4 m (15 ft) above flood stage in the next several days.  It’s too late to save some cities; there’s nothing else you can do now.

6. A RACE AGAINST TIME: URGENT SANDBAGGING

7. MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA: JUNE 24, 2011

8. THE RIVER JUST KEEPS RISING: JUNE 24

9. JUNE 24: UNUSUAL EVACUATIONS ALONG WITH THE USUAL  In addition to more than 11,000 people that have been evacuated from their homes, the historic flooding has forced the relocation of giraffes, lions and other animals from the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot to new locations.