This is Secretary Janet Napolitano.  North Dakota and Minnesota are facing the prospect   of serious flooding as the result of heavy rains, saturated soils and significant melting of heavy winter snow.  Flooding is already occurring in eastern North Dakota and rivers are rising over much of western and central North Dakota.  Two large ice jams in the Missouri River have created a serious threat in Bismarck and evacuations are underway.  Major to record breaking floods are expected along parts of the Red River and its tributaries later this month and into early April.  Minnesota is also seeing the impact of flooding and potential flooding in many places.  President Obama has issued a major disaster declaration for North Dakota and has ordered Federal aid to support state and local life saving and life sustaining efforts.   FEMA, the US Coast Guard, US Customs and Border Protection, the US Corps of Engineers, the National Guard, the American Red Cross, and many other federal, state, tribal and local agencies and organizations are all on the ground and working together to address the situation.  Levees and dikes are being fortified.  Ice is being broken apart along clogged rivers.  Sandbags are being put in place, food and water is staged and shelters are preparing to open.   Federal resources, people and supplies are in place in affected areas and continue to move forward to support you.   We strongly encourage residents along the Missouri River, the Red River and other rivers and streams to monitor for potential flooding or flash flooding and to follow the advice of state and local authorities, including whether to evacuate your home.  Federal, tribal, state, and local officials are working together in Minnesota as well.  We are pre-planning teams, monitoring and supporting response to overland flooding in multiple counties.  Some counties in Minnesota are already in active flood fighting efforts while other may soon be added.  So preparedness and communication are essential there as well.   We urge residents to make emergency preparations in anticipation of rising rivers and streams.  Families and individuals should have an emergency kit and emergency plan in place.  For more information on emergency preparedness, please visit www.ready.gov.  Individual and community preparedness are the responsibility of all of us.  We will continue to monitor the situation, and work with our tribal, state and local and other partners to do what is necessary to help everyone get through these serious floods.  We are all in this together.