North Dakota residents yesterday anxiously watched freezing waters lapping the top of levees in the worst flooding in 112 years as President Barack Obama vowed help in battling nature.

Officials fear some 30,000 people could be left homeless in the northern plains if the Red River, swollen by melting snow and now expected to reach crest levels this afternoon, breaks through levees pro- tecting Fargo as well as Moorhead lying on the opposite bank in Minnesota.

Some 3,500 people have already been evacuated as this flat prairie state remained blanketed with snow and flooded waterways were closing in on isolated farms.

Fargo's airport yesterday was packed with arriving Red Cross workers and journalists, as icy waters began breaching outlying levees along with miles of sandbag dikes thrown up in the past few days by thousands of desperate volunteers.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said the situation remained "dangerous" and warned against anyone entering flooded areas. Officials said the river at Fargo early yesterday reached 12.4 m - a 112-year record level after the 1897 foot that reached 12.2 m and only inches below the top of Fargo's tallest levee, which stands at 41.3 feet.

Due to extreme frigid overnight temperatures at -11