Minot, North Dakota (CNN) -- The summer flooding in Minot, North Dakota, will enter record territory Friday morning as the Souris River surges toward a peak, days ahead of original forecasts by the National Weather Service.
The river, which stood 1,556 feet above sea level early Friday, is forecast to top the 1881 record of 1,558 feet by mid-morning and peak at 1564.5 feet late Saturday or early Sunday. That would put the Souris more than six feet higher than the old record.
The waters were rushing into the area faster and in greater amounts than expected, overflowing a lake near the city, officials said, exacerbating the region's flood concerns.
But Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said Thursday that no new evacuations had been ordered, even though "the flows coming into Lake Darling are reaching the lake quicker and at a greater volume than predicted."
"Due to this, Lake Darling has increased its outflow," the mayor added -- increasing flooding in the flood-plain, though not to a point that it yet changes the "inundation zone."
About 12,000 residents have evacuated their homes, according to Minot Fire Department Capt. Dean Lenertz. The mayor of Minot and the state's governor congratulated citizens on an organized and efficient evacuation, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple saying it had "gone extremely well."
Water has been overtopping the city's dikes since Wednesday, which are leaking in some places.
Dalrymple said that "all agencies are engaged" statewide in addressing the issue. He noted, for example, that workers with North Dakota's transportation department are moving 100,000 sandbags from Bismarck to the Minot area, and there are about 500 National Guard personnel on site.
The Souris River, which locals call "The Mouse" after the French translation of its name, flows through the center of town, and there are several homes and businesses along its low-lying banks.
Fearing the main levees would not hold back the water, emergency workers have been constructing local levees around a school and the Broadway Street Bridge, a main thoroughfare.
At least one of those had to be pushed back Thursday, said Zimbelman, eliminating Third street as a north-south access point through the city.
At the nearby Minot Air Force Base, about 1,000 members of the military and their families have been displaced by the rising waters in the city, according to Capt. Genieve David, a base spokeswoman. An emergency shelter has been set up on the base, with 50 people staying there overnight, the mayor said. An additional 221 people stayed at shelters run by the Red Cross.
Minot, in the north-central part of the state, is the fourth-largest city in North Dakota. The evacuation order covers a third of its population, Fong said.
The Souris River looks like a "U." It swoops in and out of North Dakota from Canada.CNN's Jim Spellman, Ed Payne, Marlena Baldacci and Alta Spells contributed to this report.
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