Reuters (excerpts):  Minot, North Dakota - Flood waters swamped lower-lying areas of Minot, North Dakota on Friday and eclipsed a 130-year-old flooding record as federal officials sharply increased water releases to the swollen Souris River.  With thousands of homes in the path of the flood, dispatched residents settled in for their second mandatory evacuations since just after Memorial Day with the prospect of potentially months in temporary housing.  Up to a quarter of the 41,000 residents of North Dakota's fourth largest city were forced out of their homes on Wednesday afternoon.  Outside those areas on Friday morning, streets were deserted, except for dump trucks moving material toward levees.  By Friday evening, the brownish river water had risen to more than four feet above historic 1969 flooding residents had used as a benchmark, and topped the 1881 record by two feet.  "It's dangerous and we need you to stay away and do as little travel as possible within the community," Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman told reporters.  Zimbelman said about 2,500 homes were flooded by Friday afternoon within the city, some to their eaves, and that number would grow to 4,000-5,000 homes by the evening.  Thousands more homes were flooded outside Minot.  An enormous rush of water was expected to push the Souris, or Mouse, River levels at the Broadway Bridge in Minot as much as another four feet higher to a crest late on Saturday or early Sunday that would hold for three or four days.  Amtrak has suspended Empire Builder passenger train service in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and eastern Montana due to the widespread flooding.  

The massive flooding at Minot has overshadowed temporarily the widening deluge along the Mississippi River that threatens cities from Montana through Missouri.  Federal officials have pushed record water releases from six reservoirs along the Upper Missouri River that are near capacity because of a deep melting snowpack and heavy rains.  Those reservoirs have little capacity for additional rain and record releases are expected to continue through August, causing widespread flooding in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.  It will be some time until the water recedes and damage can be assessed, but state and local officials said the focus soon would shift to dealing with the toll on displaced residents.  

 My Comments:  As the return of the Lord approaches, the Word of God tells us that there will be signs in heaven and on the earth.  The Spirit of the Lord is warning people to pray and receive Jesus, while there is yet time, "I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire and vapor of smoke" Acts 2:19.  We can see this through the numerous volcanic eruptions recently.  Luke 21:11 also says, "There will be great earthquakes in various places, famines, pestilences, and there will be fearful sights and great signs in heaven."