President Clinton will see a ghost town today when he flies over Grand Forks to view floodwaters that have sent houses swirling off their foundations.

The Red River reached 54.11 feet Monday, which is 26 feet over flood stage. City Engineer Ken Vein said he hopes the river has reached its crest, but it still could rise higher.

Since the Lincoln Drive dike collapsed Friday, the floodwaters have continued to spread across Grand Forks. By Monday, almost 85 percent of residents were forced to leave their homes.

In East Grand Forks, Mayor Lynn Stauss said all but 250 residents have left the town of 9,000. Stauss said he has raw sewage on the first floor of his own home at 831 James Ave. on the city’s south end.

Today, Clinton will make his first visit to Grand Forks to console flood victims and hear pleas for more federal aid. The president will land at 11:30 a.m. at Grand Forks Air Force Base. He’ll take a one-hour helicopter tour of the flood devastation, then he’ll meet with local officials about the extent of the flood damage. At 2:15 p.m., he’ll talk with Grand Forks residents who sought shelter at the base after abandoning their homes.

‘‘There’s no way you can understand this unless you see it firsthand,’’ said U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

‘‘The normal disaster relief is not going to work,’’ Peterson said. Congressional delegations from North Dakota and Minnesota will accompany the president on his visit.

At 4 p.m. Monday, there was a strategy meeting at the White House to discuss federal aid that can spur recovery efforts in the Red River Valley. James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and members of Congress took part in that meeting, Peterson said.

Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens and Peterson announced the president’s historic trip during a Monday news conference at the University of North Dakota.

‘‘We are very pleased this is going to happen,’’ Owens said. ‘‘We’re just taking it one day at a time. I hope the water crests.’’

At a shelter, the mayor said she talked with elderly people and residents with special needs. One woman told the mayor how happy she will be when she returns to her home. ‘‘I did not have the heart to tell her her home isn’t there any longer,’’ Owens said. The woman lived in an apartment that was destroyed in a Saturday fire that left 11 downtown buildings in ruins or heavily damaged.

Jerry Vein, a fire department spokesman, said they still haven’t found a cause for the fire. Monday, crews moved in with cranes to knock down some of the brick walls on the skeletal structures that remained on North Third Street.

‘‘It was our town that was burning,’’ Deputy Fire Chief Peter O’Neill said Monday. ‘‘It doesn’t seem real. You want to wake up from some dream.’’

Police Lt. Byron Sieber said authorities still are helping people evacuate their homes. Sunday, eight people were taken out of their houses by water rescue teams. Sunday, the mayor imposed a 24-hour curfew in mandatory evacuation zones in the city.

Sieber said people can still get help to leave their homes, but they risk arrest if they refuse to abandon unsafe areas.

Monday, he reported two ‘‘forced evacuations.’’ A heavily medicated 96-year-old woman was taken from her home, Sieber said. The second person was an individual who refused to leave.

Sieber said he’s aware of only two burglaries since the flood emergency unfolded Friday. Those burglaries were at an audio store and pawn shop, he said.

Owens still is emphasizing personal safety, but she also said recovery efforts are getting under way. Flood victims are urged to call FEMA at 1-800-462-9029 to register for assistance.

Peterson said he and other members of Congress will be pushing for additional aid, because FEMA individual grants of $13,200 are inadequate. Many elderly people have most of their assets tied up in their houses, Peterson said, so it’s impractical to give them a low-interest loan to rebuild their homes.