Red River Flood Pronounced Over

The Red River has fallen below flood stage in all major cities on its path to Canada, the National Weather Service announced, a signal that the flood of 1997 is finally over. Temperatures approached 80 throughout the state Friday, the first day since April 2 that the river was below its 17-foot flood stage in Fargo. In Grand Forks, the river went below flood stage May 20, but the devastation from last month’s flooding remains. Damage estimates have been as high as $1 billion, and many of the city’s 50,000 residents still have not returned to their homes.