The Red River in the mid-Western US has reached its highest level in 112 years and is expected to keep on rising, US authorities say.
It rose to 40.63ft (12.4m) at 1615 GMT, exceeding the previous record of 40.1ft set in 1897 in Fargo, North Dakota.
Scores more residents were ordered to evacuate their homes as the rising waters breached one of the dykes.
President Barack Obama has sent Nancy Ward, acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to Fargo.
Dennis Walaker Fargo Mayor
He issued a federal disaster declaration for parts of Minnesota and the entire state of North Dakota earlier this week.
Authorities in Fargo evacuated around 150 homes in the early hours of Friday, along with hospitals, clinics and a county jail.
Evacuations were also carried out across the river in Moorhead, Minnesota.
A spokesman for the US Army Corps of Engineers said a small amount of water was leaking through a crack in one of the dykes, adding that a contingency dyke had been built behind it.
Some 800 guards are being brought in to monitor the dykes, in addition to the 900 already in place, the mayor of Fargo said.
"We want to go down swinging if we go down," Mayor Dennis Walaker told reporters.
Several factors are said to be behind the river's historic rise. The unusually cold winter left a snowpack sitting on top of frozen ground that could not absorb it.
This was followed by a warm snap with heavy rain, which melted the snow and sent it toward the north-flowing river.
More snow is forecast to fall on the Red River valley in the coming days, and rain next week could worsen flood conditions.
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