FARGO - Colder temperatures gave sandbaggers a break in northeastern North Dakota towns on Tuesday, but flood warnings continued and many rural residents were bracing for overland flooding.

Walsh County Emergency Manager Brent Nelson said the Park River and the Forest River dropped overnight as colder weather slowed runoff. Both rivers saw a jump around noon as temperatures increased, but the waters were falling again Tuesday afternoon - some good news for residents in Grafton and Minto.

"As far as the two towns are concerned, we're feeling a little bit better," Nelson said. "It has given us some breathing room, but there's still a lot of overland flooding in the rural areas."

Pembina County Emergency Manager Becky Ault said the Pembina River appeared to have crested in Neche and had dropped in Walhalla, and the Tongue River was going down in Cavalier. Floodwaters also receded in the Glasston, Hamilton and Leroy areas, she said.

"There's no heavy sandbagging activities going on right now," Ault said at mid-afternoon Tuesday. "It's sort of a 'wait-and-see' thing. We're in a standby mode for a while."

Flood warnings continued in the northern Red River Valley.

"The next thing we'll have to monitor is the Red River," Ault said. "All of this drainage ends up in the Red, and the water from Hamilton and Glasston is going to have to go somewhere."

State Emergency Manager Doug Friez flew over the flooded areas Tuesday.

"I don't think anybody is going to be out of the woods until some of this water gets in the proper drains," Friez said. "The picture today is improved over yesterday, but there's still a very devastating impact. There's still a tremendous amount of water over the countryside."

Crews were beginning to evaluate damage in Grafton and Minto, Nelson said. About 60 houses were flooded in Grafton and about 20 houses were flooded in Minto, he said.

"We have no house estimates yet, but I expect the damage to be significant," Nelson said.

The Salvation Army put up 11 families in motels and the Red Cross set up a shelter at the armory in Grafton, Nelson said.

Ault estimates that about 50 percent of the homes in the county were dealing with some water problems, mostly in basements.

It's difficult to determine morale because people are exhausted, Nelson said.

"We have a little reprieve now, and then we move into the cleanup phase," he said. "For those that did get water, they've got several days of more work coming."

Some Grafton residents said the city should have filled in gaps in its dike system before the flooding hit, but city officials said the water came so fast that they had no lead time.

Officials estimated that up to 4 inches of rain fell in the region over the weekend. Streams and rivers had significant ice before the rain, and the snow-covered fields could not absorb it.

Some believe the added moisture could push Devils Lake to record levels. The lake already has more than doubled in size and risen more than 20 feet during as a result of flooding over the past decade.

"There's a lot of overland flowing, with the snow, rain and ice all coming together at once," said Joe Belford, a Ramsey County commissioner. "It's going to take a long time for this thing to run into the system, but there will be a tremendous impact."

Grand Forks has shored up its flood protection since the Red River swamped the city 1997. The Red is expected to crest in the Grand Forks at 381/2 feet on Wednesday or Thursday, said Jim Campbell, the city's emergency manager.

"That will pose absolutely no problems for us at all," Campbell said.