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Statewide: March 25, 2011 Archive

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Fargo-Moorhead a model for coping with disaster

Posted at 12:00 PM on March 25, 2011 by Dan Gunderson (1 Comments)
Filed under: Flooding, Northwest Minnesota

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MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller

As the Fargo-Moorhead community faces its third major flood in a row, researchers are studying how people there cope so well with repeated disasters.

Local researchers are teaming up with the Terrorism and Disaster Center at the University of Oklahoma to study community resilience.

Fargo psychologist Kit O' Neill is one of the researchers. She's part of a local group called Red River Resilience that formed after the record 2009 flood. She said national disaster organizations like FEMA and the Red Cross have noticed how well Fargo-Moorhead residents bounce back from disasters. They're interested in learning more about why some communities are more resilient after disasters.

"We're hoping we can not only advance the science but be in the forefront of developing resilience as a model community for the United States," O'Neill said.

The study will start in the next week or two as researchers identify 1,000 flood volunteers who will fill out a detailed survey.

The plan is to have those same people fill out another survey after this years flood.

"That would definitely contribute an important aspect to the literature to date," O'Neill said. "Not many communities have an opportunity to do a before and after look at community resilience."

The science of community resilience is relatively new.

Researchers think strong community involvement, strong civic leadership, good communication and social support networks are key factors in how a community responds to disaster.

While the survey will follow 1,000 Fargo-Moorhead residents, O'Neill said other researchers are examining civic leadership and communication during the flood. It will take about a year to gather and analyze the data.

"We can't assume what makes one community resilient is exactly the same as another community but we do believe there are common factors that will operate across the continuum and those are the factors we're trying to identify," she said.

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Iron Range reps fight GOP plan to raid taconite fund

Posted at 8:11 AM on March 25, 2011 by Michael Olson
Filed under: Around MN

"It is going to kill jobs for generations to come," Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, said of a plan by Minnesota Republicans to use $60 million from a fund derived from taconite production taxes. The Duluth News Tribune reports that Iron Range lawmakers are fighting the plan outlined in a House GOP budget proposal.

Also clicking on MN Today

ND wind turbine accident pegged to bolt failure
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Bolt failures caused a wind turbine's rotor and blades to fall from a tower in north-central North Dakota, and six other turbines have been shut down while their bolts are replaced (WDAZ).

Chisholm student expelled over 'hit list' on Facebook
The list on Facebook included 30 names of school staff, students and graduates. The posting made no specific threat other than the heading (Dulluth News Tribune).

What killed fish in Agnes and Henry lakes?
The "suspects" include treated water from Alexandria Lakes Area Sanitary District, chlorine from water used to battle a blaze at the SunOpta plant, chemicals from the plant that burned in the fire, or a combination of factors that depleted oxygen levels (Alexandria Echo Press).

Green Plains completes acquisition of Otter Tail Ag
Green Plains Renewable Energy announced that it has completed the purchase of an ethanol plant from Otter Tail Ag Enterprises. The plant is located near Fergus Falls and brings Green Plains' total expected ethanol production capacity to approximately 740 million gallons annually (Fergus Falls Journal).

Flood update

Flood outlook: Lower, but drawn out
Flood crest predictions were revised downward slightly Thursday but preparations continue for what could be Minnesota's third siege of near-record high rivers in 12 months (Star Tribune).

NWS scales back prediction but warns danger still lurks
With water expected to remain high throughout April, there's still the threat of a major storm adding to the problem, as happened in both 1965 and 2001."We're not out of the woods yet," meteorologist John Wetenkamp said (Winona Daily News).

Minnesota prepares for flooding in 40 to 50 counties
Nine counties, mostly around the Red River, were affected by floods two years ago. A year ago, 20 counties were flooded. This year, state officials say 40 to 50 counties in most parts of the state are likely to see floods (Grand Forks Herald).

More more news on floods and possible flooding from Floods '11.

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