Minot, North Dakota (CNN) -- Residents of the small North Dakota town of Sawyer were ordered to immediately evacuate Saturday as the Souris River began to slosh up a main street through town, according to a U.S. Corps of Engineers official.
The city of about 350 people southwest of Minot, North Dakota -- which has major flooding issues of its own -- has been the subject of a frenetic levee-building effort by the corps.
Water began flowing up First Street on the northwest side of town early Saturday morning, said Shannon Bauer, a public information officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The river stood at five feet above flood stage Saturday morning. It is forecast to rise nearly 2 1/2 more feet at Sawyer before cresting on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Crews are engaged in a "touch and go" struggle to build a temporary levee to stop the flow of water through the now-vacant town, according to Bauer.
"We have not given up," Bauer said.
The evacuation came as officials in Minot continued to deal with record flooding from the Souris that threatens to split the city in half. The swollen river is expected to crest this weekend after already topping its record water level on Friday, giving no respite to the thousands of people in North Dakota whose homes have been inundated by floodwater.
Minot resident Stuart Collum ventured to the edge of the floodwaters Saturday. He could see the silver chimney and black roof of the house where he has lived since 1968. The rest was under water.
"I hate to say it but I had tears in my eyes this morning. It's a sickening feeling because I knew when I come back it won't hardly be worth fixing. It's almost 100 years old," he said.
On Friday, city officials said they were feverishly working to prevent the river from inundating routes leading to the Broadway Bridge, a critical north-south route through town.
"It's really important that bridge stays open," said Cecily Fong, spokeswoman for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
Workers reinforced levees and built huge dikes to stem the flow of the river, Hocking said Friday night. Air boats were brought in earlier.
City officials had nevertheless ordered police, fire and medical units to position themselves on hills on each side of town as a precaution.
More than 3,000 homes in Minot were flooded Friday when river water gushed through the city. Some of the homes were covered to their roofs, Minot Fire Department Battalion Chief John Hocking said.
About 15% to 20% of the city was under water as of Friday, officials said.
"This is by far the toughest we've seen," Hocking said.
Ken and Janelle Herslip own one of those homes. Located less than a mile from the Souris, it's already flooded and more water is expected, Ken Herslip said Saturday.
Even though a crew of more than three dozen friends and family helped them evacuate on Monday -- scouring the house of everything that wasn't attached to the walls, Herslip said his wife is still devastated.
"We've had many homes over our life and she finally got the house of her dreams," he said. "She is absolutely devastated, bawling all the time."
Herslip, who built the house, isn't so busted up. No one was hurt, and they can build again, he said.
Still, he said, "it will never be the same."
The Souris River, which locals call "The Mouse" after the French translation of its name, flows through the center of Minot, a city of about 36,000. About a third of the city's population is under evacuation orders.
"This has been a very trying time for our community," Mayor Curt Zimbelman said Friday. "Emotionally draining for all of us."
The flooding has already eclipsed the record set in 1881, according to National Weather Service figures. The river was 12.56 feet above flood stage Saturday morning. The previous record was nine feet above flood stage, according to the weather service. It was expected to rise two more feet by Sunday morning, according to the weather service.
"Water is flowing toward Minot from Canada faster than ever due to record water levels upstream," the weather agency said Friday night. "The current forecast is for the crest to reach between 1,564 and 1,565 feet above sea level sometime during the overnight hours of June 25-26, and continuing through June 30. This crest would be more than 6 feet above record flood stage, and 9 feet above major flood stage."
The rush of water prompted the overflowing of a lake near the city, officials said, exacerbating the region's flood concerns.
About 800 National Guard troops were in the city late Friday to assist, Fong said.
Hocking said he took an aerial tour of areas around Minot and said saw widespread flooding.
"All along you could see are rooftops and flooded areas," he said.CNN's Phil Gast, Marlena Baldacci, Jim Spellman, Alta Spells and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.
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