People watch rising water in Warroad

WARROAD (AP) -- City officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers met Friday to discuss a response to the rising level of Lake of the Woods, which threatens to flood this town on the Canadian border.

The lake is nearly two feet above its normal summer level and is expected to rise another 14 inches in the next three weeks, more if it rains, officials said.

The area experienced some flooding due to heavy rains earlier this month, though not as severely as the town of Roseau 20 miles to the west.

Corps engineers were also providing pumps and other equipment to local officials in Howard Lake and Delano, about 30 miles west of Minneapolis, where rain earlier this week sent the Crow River out of its banks. In Delano on Friday, the river was still five feet above its flood stage of 8 feet.

Forecasters said there is a 30 to 40 percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the state through the weekend, along with warm and muggy conditions.