In a clear effort to avoid the mistakes of the previous administration's disaster management, President Obama has dispatched extra troops and helicopters to flooded areas in the Dakotas and made it known he is paying close attention to the crisis. "Even as we face an economic crisis which demands our constant focus, forces of nature can also intervene in ways that create other crises to which we must respond and respond urgently," the president said in his weekly video address. FEMA's new head, Nancy Ward, is in the area coordinating relief. Most recent reports put the Red River at 40.81 feet, nearly a foot over the previous record and 22 feet above flood stage. Though freezing temperatures have slowed the river's rise, it may still pass 42 feet this evening, forcing another wave of major evacuations.
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