FEMA thought the best course of action was to evacuate and not leave anything to chance. Fargo officials disagreed, saying they knew what it would take to hold back the Red River. The conversation turned heated at times, and Fargo ultimately won.
Now that the Red River is receding and leaving only relatively minor damage, that decision looks smart. The city began returning to normal Wednesday as people went back to work, stores reopened and the river dipped to only slightly above 37 feet.
WIND GAP, Pa. – Evacuation orders for about 5,000 people in northeastern Pennsylvania remain in effect even as authorities say the leak of a hazardous chemical has been contained.
Authorities say a tanker truck carrying more than 16 tons of hydrofluoric acid overturned early Saturday near Wind Gap, about 60 miles north of Philadelphia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington fire officials say the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House was evacuated briefly after smoke from a fireplace clouded one of the floors.
Firefighters were called to the building on 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue about 12:15 p.m. Sunday.
Fire spokesman Alan Etter says firefighters extinguished a fire in a fireplace on the second floor. They believe an obstruction in a chimney caused light smoke to build up on the fourth floor. No damage was reported.
The Secret Service evacuated the building for about 30 minutes as a precaution. There were a few people inside the building, which houses White House staff.
(This version CORRECTS the time firefighters received the call to 12:15 p.m., based on corrected information from department)
By DON BEHM Germantown -- A malfunction of heating, cooling or ventilation equipment does not appear to be the cause of the Jan. 15 release of a chemical inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Appleton Ave. that forced an evacuation of the store and sent nearly 50 people to area hospitals for treatment of respiratory problems, Village Police Chief Peter Hoell said.
The possible intentional release of an unidentified substance inside the store remains the focus of a large-scale criminal investigation, Hoell said in an interview last week.
Both the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Germantown police in what he described as "an extremely active" investigation.
Two phone calls threatening unspecified violence brought the workday to a screeching halt at the city-county Government Center in Rochester shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Police officers and Olmsted County Sheriff's Office deputies evacuated hundreds of employees and citizens from the building and conducted a thorough search of it for bomb materials. Nothing was found, and the building reopened at about 3:30 p.m.
"We swept every single room and closet and piece of property," said Sheriff Steve Von Wald.
Over the next few days, we will throw out some policy ideas for the new Obama administration. Readers should send in their own proposals by posting a comment.
While the financial crisis permits Obama to spend almost unlimited amounts of money in his first year trying to jump start the economy, he still needs to find ways to re-direct government funds towards projects liberals care about. He can start by raiding the Pentagon and Homeland Security budgets for mass transportation.
Mass transportation? It’s called an evacuation plan.
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