GRAND FORKS (AP) - City residents who have been stuck with high flood insurance premiums are about a week away from relief, city officials said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set an Aug. 2 date to certify the completion of the city's dikes, which would officially protect all structures from a 100-year flood.

City officials said residents should see an immediate drop in flood insurance premiums or requirements by mortgage companies to carry the protection. It should save residents millions of dollars, Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown said.

"This opportunity gives us more physical protection as well as financial protection at a better cost," Brown said.

City councilman Hal Gershman called it welcome news to residents, many of whom are still struggling to recover from the 1997 flood that wiped out most of Grand Forks and neighboring East Grand Forks, Minn.

"Ten years ago, Grand Forks got a strong right punch from Mother Nature," Gershman said. "Since then, we've made a lot of counter punches to get to where we are today."

The ruling applies to more than 2,000 properties and 1,600 property owners, city officials said.

The FEMA certification comes nearly three years of ahead of schedule, Brown said. The dikes weren't expected to be completed until 2008.

Construction on the $409 million flood project started in 2001. It includes levees, floodwalls, pump stations and diversion channels.

Al Grasser, the Grand Forks city engineer, said some residents may want to consider keeping insurance for heavy rain events.

"People, when evaluating the need for flood insurance and those types of things, need to carefully weigh the risks of whether they are going to maintain it or drop it," Grasser said.