Red River crests at 40 feet in ND

Red River crests on North Dakota-Minnesota border By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSSeasonal flooding has hit communities in upper MidwestAt least three people have died in MinnesotaThe U.S. Coast Guard says it rescued five people (CNN) -- The swollen Red River that forms the border between Minnesota and North Dakota crested near 40 feet in Fargo, North Dakota, a spokesman for the City of Fargo Fire Department said Sunday.

The river is expected to remain swollen for the next few days, said spokesman Jesse Schmidt.

Rain forecast for Sunday had raised flooding fears along the Red River, where recreational boating was barred in several counties. But the worst of the predictions seems not to have materialized.

The area could get up to half an inch of rain Sunday, Schmidt said.

The region usually has seasonal flooding after warm weather and rain melts snow in early spring.

Officials in Moorhead, Minnesota, across the border from Fargo, also were coping with the flooding, a repeat from 2010 and 2009. The Red River crested at nearly 41 feet in 2009.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, talked Saturday about improved levees and preparations.

Still, she said, three people have died in Minnesota because of the flooding.

"This is a ferocious river," Klobuchar said. "We have to continue to be careful."

Other Minnesota officials talked about the need for more flood mitigation.

The U.S. Coast Guard said one of its crews rescued rescued five people along the Red River Saturday -- one resident and four responders.

In Cass County, north of Fargo, residents placed sandbags along flooded streams and roads and used all-terrain vehicles to reach their homes.

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