PEMBINA, N.D.

People in North Dakota’s oldest city staged a frantic fight against time Wednesday, raising dikes to hold off the rising Red River of the North, even as they were ordered to leave their homes.

‘‘They should give us a chance to whip this,’’ said Charles Walker, a Pembina resident and husband of Mayor Hetty Walker. ‘‘All we want is an honest chance at it. No one wants to lose their homes.’’

But flood-fighting efforts stalled for a time Wednesday as conflicting reports spread through the community about whether or not they should give up on their 200-year-old town.

On Wednesday, the Pembina County Commission ordered residents to halt sandbagging when the river level reached 56 feet, or when the spreading water closes off Interstate 29 – the town’s only escape route.

With the river at 53.5 feet Wednesday morning, the city still had time. Pembina officials urgently called for volunteers to raise the city’s ring dike to 59 or 59.5 feet. The National Weather Service predicts the river will crest between 58 and 59 feet sometime this weekend.

As the calls spread, some radio reports told volunteers not to go to Pembina to help.

It took a visit and a hastily called meeting by Gov. Ed Schafer to resolve the issue.

He calmed their fears and settled the dispute, which he attributed to fatigue and miscommunication.

‘‘People are tired,’’ Schafer said. ‘‘They’re up to their eyeballs. And sometimes people can’t see the whole picture when they’re up to their eyeballs in mud and stuff.’’

City, county and state officials are worried about residents’ safety, he said.

The county issued the evacuation order only after consulting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State Water Commission and Pembina County Emergency Manager Becky Ault. The city imposed a mandatory evacuation Tuesday evening, except for people raising dikes.

The county wants a chance to save Pembina, too, but safety is an issue, said Corene Vaughn, County Commission chairwoman.

‘‘We do not want to endanger people,’’ Vaughn said Wednesday.

The evacuation order sets out a series of actions, all of which will be triggered by the river.

Here is the order: The City of Pembina must be evacuated when the river level reading reaches 56 feet, or when water makes I-29 impassable at Pembina.

The order also restricts the number of maintenance and law enforcement crews that will be allowed to stay in town and bans media requests for assistance.

It was that last message – a ban on requests for volunteers to help sandbag – that caused the confusion and a confrontation between city and county officials.

Many listeners, including the Walkers, thought radio reports meant that sandbagging efforts should end immediately. Charles Walker, who is a Pembina County Commissioner, did not attend Wednesday morning’s commission meeting because he was working at Pembina’s city emergency operations center.

‘‘We have the people to put up the fight,’’ Mayor Hetty Walker said. ‘‘We are safe. Why panic?’’

Meanwhile, truckloads of sandbags rolled into Pembina Wednesday afternoon. The number of volunteers hovered around two dozen in the morning, growing to about 60 or 70 by midafternoon.

With the crest predicted for the weekend, local residents hope they have enough time, if nothing else gets in their way.

‘‘If we can keep going a couple of more days, we can save this place,’’ Chuck Walker said.