Blizzard dumps snow on flooded North Dakota

Terra Daily, via Agence France-Presse: A heavy blizzard dumped wet snow on volunteers rushing to fill sandbags and build temporary dikes to hold off rising flood waters in North Dakota Wednesday as officials prepared to use explosives to break up ice jams on swelling rivers. President Barack Obama issued a federal disaster declaration for 34 counties and two Indian reservations and the entire state was under a major flood warning.

The storm's blustering winds knocked out power to towns across the largely rural prairie state and made many roads impassable as it dumped snow and freezing rain, officials said. Several bridges and roads were already closed due to flooding as an unusually heavy snowpack began to melt on top of saturated land that has not yet fully thawed.

Low-lying homes across the state were evacuated as rivers and creeks spilled over their banks but damage had largely been restricted to water in basements….

A 1966 photo of Jamestown, North Dakota