People of the Fargo area deal with flooding basically every year. The last three years have been especially bad for flooding. Area authorities are performing checks on the citizens stranded by flood waters and delivering supplies where needed. About 30 miles of highway 29 are flooded. Some schools have suspended classes because roadways are flooded. Most cities around the rivers have levees in place to hold back the flood water and keep property safe.
By now the cities in these parts should know to expect flooding. I suppose they do know to some degree, but houses are destroyed and damaged. Those houses obviously should not have been built where they were. I think there need to be building codes for frequent flood areas. Codes like how far from a river houses need to be and how high the ground needs to be in order for buildings to be built will help keep damage down. As far as farmlands go nothing is being planted or harvested at the moment so the only real concern is soil being washed away and animals being killed. There isn't much of an excuse for lost livestock, they can be moved elsewhere.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42556879/ns/weather/
