Hotel reservations uncertain
The Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau is warning anyone with hotel reservations here this weekend to double-check them.

Cole Carley, executive director of the bureau, said hotel occupancy here has been artificially inflated by the emergency situation caused by flooding.

Currently, Carley said, more rooms are being occupied by workers from emergency management and human resources agencies, as well as people displaced by floods in Grand Forks, N.D., and elsewhere.

Carley said many hotels may not be able to honor previous reservations for social and entertainment events over the weekend.

He said he was referring specifically to the KISS concert at the Fargodome Saturday and a weekend prom from one of the local schools.

"What it comes down to is which (reservation) are you going to honor?" Carley said. "They felt we had to be sympathetic to the natural calamity we had here and take care of those people that are here for reasons other than that they want to be."

Carley acknowledged that young people were a big part of the flood fight in Fargo-Moorhead and "we don’t want to deny them their prom. We’re not trying to say that those things are bad. The hotels are making this decision, we’re not sending this down as an edict.

"There’s always rooms here or there, but they should call and ascertain whether they have a room or not."

Carley said it is impossible to say how many displaced flood victims are lodged in local hotels. He noted that many hotels are offering discounts to flood refugees.

About 600 hotel rooms are habitable in Grand Forks, but the city’s fresh water system is shut down.