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TOM ROBERTSON: All day Thursday, hundreds of people fill sandbags just a block from the swollen Roseau River. There's a sense of urgency, but people seem calm. Gerald [? Hatlestad ?] works for the town's largest employer, Polaris Industries. [? Hatlestad ?] says people are better organized than in 2002.

[? GERALD HATLESTAD: ?] I think we're more ready. Yeah, everybody's jumped on. We shut down Polaris really early this morning, and everybody come over here. That helped out a lot.

TOM ROBERTSON: School was out all day so kids could help with sandbagging. Some of the kids were worried.

SPEAKER 1: We had a flood, and we don't want to redo everything.

SPEAKER 2: Because our whole town will be gone.

SPEAKER 3: I'm really scared because my house is right there. And if the dike breaks, my house is gone.

TOM ROBERTSON: Your house is right along the river?

SPEAKER 3: Yeah.

TOM ROBERTSON: The flood of 2002 caused $120 million in damage. It affected most of the homes in town. Lots of work has been done in Roseau since then. Some homes have been removed from the floodplain. Dikes have been raised and reinforced.

Ed Leier is with the Department of Public Safety's Emergency Management Team. He says Roseau was ready for this latest flood threat because they've seen it all before.

ED LEIER: They have the volunteers organized. They have their dikes in place, more experienced in sandbagging the dikes. Practice does make perfect.

TOM ROBERTSON: Volunteers helped put up enough sandbags to protect the town from water up to 24 feet. And finally, last night, Ed Leier got some good news-- the water wasn't going to rise nearly that high.

ED LEIER: Weather service just shuffled the numbers around. They said it were at 20.45 right now. They think that is the crest, maybe 20.5 at the most.

SPEAKER 4: Yeehaw.

SPEAKER 5: That's good news.

SPEAKER 4: Fantastic.

TOM ROBERTSON: Several hours later, Roseau got a visit from Governor Tim Pawlenty.

TIM PAWLENTY: This is a community that has great leadership. They rally around each other. And unfortunately, they have a lot of experience now in these circumstances. But for them to be put on notice that there was going to be a potential problem and to see the community mobilize and to rally like this, it's just another example of the great Minnesota spirit of rallying around in times of crisis.

TOM ROBERTSON: Roseau officials are still waiting to hear whether they'll get $12.5 million from the state to help with flood mitigation, but that money is tied up in a bonding bill that legislators haven't passed. The Roseau River is expected to remain above flood stage for another day or two. Roseau Mayor Jeff Pawlowski says with rain predicted this weekend, the town won't let down its guard. They'll have people walking the dikes to make sure they hold. Pawlowski says he's grateful for the outcome. Still, he says this latest flood threat has been hard on people. Since the 2002 flood, there's been an increase in suicides and higher rates of depression and domestic violence.

JEFF PAWLOWSKI: The flood of 2002 has been very, very difficult. I mean, it's just something you don't get over quickly. And then when something like this comes along and people are reliving the same things, the nightmares, the helicopters, the sirens, the you name it, and, it's not normal. And it's not healthy. And we don't want to live like this. And we need a project so that we can get out of the 100-year floodplain. We don't have to worry about stuff like this.

TOM ROBERTSON: That project is still on the drawing board. The Army Corps of Engineers is midway through a two-year study of what can be done to fix Roseau's flood problem permanently. When they present their plan in January, it will likely include better dikes and removal of more homes and other buildings close to the river. The plan is expected to be in place by 2007. I'm Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public Radio, Roseau.