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pFARGO, N.D. (AP) — He’s the rumbling voice of Fargo’s flood fight, the 6-foot-5 big guy from a small town who tempers a gruff exterior with constant quips and a tendency to break down in tears when he visits volunteers./p pNow Mayor Dennis Walaker faces his biggest test as residents count on him to save their city from the swollen Red River./p pThose who know him best say he’s up to the challenge./p pI don’t think we would want anyone else in this situation, Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn said. He’s Denny. He’s authentic. People like that./p pFor Walaker, a native of nearby Leonard, N.D., who spent 32 years working for the city before he was elected mayor in 2006, flood fighting is nothing new. As director of the city public works department, he was on the front lines during the 1997 Red River flood, when Fargo escaped the devastation that ravaged Grand Forks. His confidence and humor during press briefings made him a hero among citizens and a media favorite./p pHe has shown the same flair in the current crisis, leading a frantic weeklong sandbagging effort to raise the city’s dikes to 43 feet. The mayor was cautiously optimistic about predictions Saturday that the river…

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