The largest city in North Dakota suddenly has a million extra sandbags on its hands.

Earlier this month, expecting a catastrophic flood season, the city of Fargo called out a volunteer army to fill the bags. The effort included three enormous, spider-shaped, sand-spewing machines and deputized middle-school kids.

It was a huge success: Fargo wound up with more than 1.1 million sandbags. But now the National Weather Service has scaled back its flood prediction, and the city only needs 100,000.

The city says there’s no room for error. It plans to store the bags for future floods.

“We either rely on the National Weather Service, or we don’t,” Mayor Dennis Walaker told the Forum News Service, which owns newspapers in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. “But who is going to be there if we fail?”

The city will start work Friday on building sandbag levees to 40 feet. The original plan was 43 feet. The weather service now predicts the Red River will crest at 38 to 40 feet late next week, depending on how much rain the city gets before then.

A 40-foot flood would still be close to a record for Fargo, which recorded 40.84 feet in 2009. It had near-record floods in 2010 and 2011.

Other parts of the Midwest are grappling with historic floods.

Waters were retreating Thursday in Peoria, Ill., after the Illinois River crested at 29.35 feet, beating a 70-year-old record. The Grand River at Grand Rapids, Mich., which also reached a record level, was expected to fall below flood stage Thursday.

Along the Mississippi River, no towns appeared to be in danger, but authorities are concerned that the flood will linger into May and strain earthen levees and hastily built sandbag walls.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:34 PM EDT

Rivers including the Mississippi and Illinois are expected to remain in “major flood stage” through this weekend, the National Weather Service warned as rain and snow continued to fall on much of the central U.S. Tuesday.

A number of flood warnings were in place as ongoing rain and runoff from last week’s intense downpours continued to keep the water levels high in rivers across Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan in particular, the NWS added.

“The larger rivers, such as the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, will take longer to recede and will remain in major flood stage through this weekend,” the weather service said.

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“Do not drive through flowing water. Nearly half of all flood fatalities are vehicle related. As little as 6 inches of water may cause you to lose control of your vehicle. Two feet of water will carry most vehicles away,” it added in a flood warning for several rivers in Missouri.

More snow
There were some heavy snowfalls overnight in parts of the central U.S. and snow was continuing to fall Tuesday morning but was expected to gradually diminish, the weather service said.

The worst-affected area was expected to be the foothills and eastern slopes of the Front Range Mountains, which could see up to 16 inches.

Duluth, Minn., has this month seen a record total of 50.2 inches for any month of the year, weather.com said. The figures go back to 1870.

The weather service warned that in areas where the snow was wet, travel would be “especially hazardous."

Rain and floods
There was also a risk of severe storms from the Ohio Valley to the lower Mississippi Valley, weather.com said on Tuesday, with “localized damaging winds and large hail.”

The floods have been blamed for at least five deaths since Thursday and have also forced evacuations, swamped homes and shut down bridges.

Barge traffic on the Mississippi was brought to a near standstill. On Sunday at least one sank and others ran aground or were half-submerged because of the floods.

States of emergency have been declared in Missouri and Illinois.

In Grafton, Ill. -- about 40 miles northeast of St. Louis -- Mayor Tom Thompson said his small community along the Mississippi River was managing, despite the water reaching 10 feet above flood stage by Monday afternoon.

"If it gets another foot (higher), it's going to become another issue," Thompson said, reported The Associated Press. Many businesses "are kinda watching and holding their breath. ... Some things are going to really be close to the wire."

Prison inmates were bused in to work alongside the National Guard and volunteers to build a floodwall of sand and gravel in Clarksville, Mo., but the barrier was showing signs of strain on Monday, according to The AP.

Areas south of St. Louis are not expected to crest until late this week.

Meanwhile, smaller rivers were causing big evacuations elsewhere. In Grand Rapids, Mich., the Grand River rose to a record 21.85 feet --  breaking 1985's record of 19.64 feet -- and driving hundreds of residents outs of their homes while flooding parts of downtown. Flood stage for the Grand River is 18 feet, according to Detroit's Lansing State Journal.

“We have prepared for the worst,” Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell said, reported The Lansing State Journal.

NBC's Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:44 AM EDT

An Indiana man is missing and another is dead after their vehicles were overtaken by floodwaters north of Indianapolis, police said Saturday, as high water caused by heavy rains continues to plague the Midwest.

Torrential rains over the last few days have led to flooding in parts of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, resulting in blocked roads, closed schools and rescues by boat from homes surrounded by floodwaters. 

Rain left the region on Friday, but in some areas flooding will continue beyond the weekend. Levels in some tributaries of the upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers are projected to reach or surpass major flood stage, according to Accuweather.com. Sections of Chicago area rivers have hit new crest records, including the Des Plaines, the Chicago and the DuPage, according to the National Weather Service. 

Robert Morgan, 64, of Arcadia, Indiana, died Friday night after he tried to drive his car through high water and was carried 100 yards downstream in Hamilton County north of Indianapolis, according to a statement from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. 

Early Saturday morning, police responded to a 911 call from a motorist who said his vehicle was sinking in the water in the same location where Morgan's car was overtaken. 

Upon arrival, rescuers found an unoccupied truck 200 feet from the roadway. The phone that called 911 belonged to an Arcadia resident, but the owner had not been found, police said. 

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday, activating the National Guard. Iowa Gov. Terry Bransted issued disaster declarations for five eastern counties and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared 38 counties disaster areas. 

Chicago-area residents weary from battling floods woke up to snow on roofs and cars Saturday morning. Snow and hail also was seen Saturday morning in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The colder than normal temperatures in much of the northern part of the country are part of a strong cold front and large storm system that will clear the East Coast late on Saturday, according to the NWS.