Driver nearly swept off flooded road near Harwood

HARWOOD, N.D. - A driver escaped injury today when he went around a barricade blocking a flooded road and was nearly swept away with his car, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said.

Authorities were called at 12:13 p.m. to Cass County 22, one mile west of Cass County 17, near Harwood.

The Toyota went around a road-closed sign and was partially swept into the ditch, said Sgt. Judy Tollefson, commander of the county's Tactical Operations Center.

Authorities were concerned the current would be strong enough to sweep the car away. A National Guard truck was brought in to try to pull the car out, Laney said.

Laney said the incident on the washed-out gravel road shows why authorities have been warning drivers to heed barricades.

"(It's) exactly what we've been saying we're going to fear is that we're going to lose somebody who's not paying attention," he said.

"It isn't a suggestion," he added of the "road closed" sign. "It's an order."