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Gov. Mark Dayton has declared a state of emergency and authorized the National Guard to help Duluth cope with its flood damage. The governor issued the executive order Wednesday afternoon, a few hours after promising Duluth Mayor Don Ness that the state would provide all possible assistance. Dayton plans to travel to Duluth on Thursday morning to discuss further how the state can help. Dayton also asks people who live in or were planning to travel in the Duluth area to follow the requests of local authorities to stay off of affected roads and highways so emergency crews can do their work. Dayton's announcement comes after Ness declared a state of emergency. Up to 8 inches of rain fell in Northeastern Minnesota overnight and the soaking is continuing Wednesday. The National Weather Service says the flood drowning Duluth right now is reminiscent of the flood of 1972. The city of Superior, Wisconsin is also flooded. Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen says they haven't seen this much flooding since the early 1900s. He says a bridge has washed out, roads are blocked or washed out and homes are flooded. They hope to get the Wisconsin governor to declare a state of emergency. Evacuations The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management activated the state emergency operations center Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. because of the flooding in Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties. The center coordinates planning, operations, and public information to keep Minnesotans and infrastructure safe. Some residents being urged to evacuate their homes because of the rising St. Louis River. The Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth has evacuated 80 homes, which is a total of 250 residents. Two campgrounds were also evacuated. The Town of Thomson has evacuated 40 residents. Officials in Carlton are evacuating residents in the town 20 miles south of Duluth because of road damage and rising water. The evacuees at a Red Cross shelter at Carlton High School were moved to higher ground at the Scanlon Community Center. Earlier Wednesday, nearly 40 campers and 20 residents showed up at the shelter after being advised to leave their locations. Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake says up to 170 people have been evacuated from the town of Carlton. Lake says the evacuations are not mandatory. The Red Cross is also running a shelter at First United Methodist Church in Duluth, also known as the Copper Top Church for its distinctive pyramid-shaped roof. By noon, about 40 residents had sought shelter there. ***If you feel that this video infringes on your copyright, please send a message to my inbox and I will immediately remove it***