Remembering the 1997 Red River Flood
Your Voice: Perspectives: 1997 Red River FloodApril, 2007
The 1997 Red River Flood has been described as "a slow-motion disaster", where people lost their belongings, their homes, some even lost their lives. Minnesota Public Radio News covered the flood in 1997 and now looks back - and forward - in The Great Flood of 1997: 10 Years Later.
Our Public Insight Journalism team turned to their network to find out what people experienced during the 1997 disaster. Some respondees gave us permission to share their perspectives, and we're featuring these first person perspectives here.
What is your memory of the flood?
I was in 2nd grade at the time of the Flood of 1997 and remember little of the time, but some moments are engrained in my memory and will be forever.
The night before we evacuated out home, we were all glued to our TV, watching the local news station and the updated evacuation announcements.
We all went to sleep reluctantly, and awoke to huge trucks dumping clay in the middle of our street. We live on Belmont, one of the main residential streets in the city, so seeing clay piling up in the middle of it was extremely odd and illustrated the severity of the situation.
We packed up all we could and left for Fargo, 70 miles to the south. We were only expecting a few feet in the basement, so we only moved things up, and not out of the basement.
After living in Fargo with my grandpa, I attended an elementary school where I was welcomed into the classroom and given countless gifts from the students there.
Upon returning home, we found that our entire basement was flooded. The flooding was actually a blessing considering we had moved out of a house just months before that got 4 feet of water on the main floor.
But losing so much left a lasting impression on me and I won't ever forget the disaster in 1997 nor the outpouring of support from so many people.
How did the Flood of 1997 change your life or your community?
On top of losing so much from the Flood, I was taught to value the more important things in life, family, love, and friendship.
The community of Grand Forks has recovered fully from the destruction of the Flood, with lots of new development and a renewed downtown. Although the disaster and all of the feelings that came with it will never be forgotten, the people of Grand Forks and all those that helped showed how great they are.
Rick Abbott
Grand Forks, ND
What is your memory of the flood?
I pulled out copies of e-mails I sent to my children during the flood fight of 1997. I live on the river in south Fargo, and started building my dike that eventually totaled some 2500 sandbags on April 3.
To quote an April 14 e-mail "The amazing part of this whole flood fight is the volunteers, mostly young people, who have showed up to help. The city has done a marvelous job lining up people, transporting them to where they are needed, supervising. The city workers are putting in 14 hour days to help us, without complaint. It really is wonderful to live in a small town like this."
When I wrote that, the Red River was at 15.64 feet, some 24 feet below where it would crest 15 days later. April 12, with the river at 37.56 feet, I write about the stress, more emotional than physical, in spite of the lack of sleep. The anxiety over whether the dike would hold, trying to keep up with the seepage with 6 pumps, was draining. I learned about the importance of balance: balance the seepage through the dike with the pumping back over the dike. Sometimes when things got out of balance, water poured into the lower level of my home, and I'd panic and try to regain the "balance".
My e-mails reflect my struggle, physical and emotional, with the flood and the prospects of victory or defeat in the fight to keep the river out of my home. I was home for most of the month, from April 9 when the water reached the bottom of my dike, until May 2, when it finally retreated to below the dike.
It was an incredible feeling of accomplishment to hold the force of nature at bay, and gratitude for the help received from so many unnamed anonymous people who just wanted to help. For Fargo, it truly was our finest hour!
John Stern
Fargo, ND
What is your memory of the flood?
I often have trouble remembering what I did yesterday, but have many vivid recollections of being in Grand Forks through those very trying times. Some thoughts and memories, which will likely be rambling and disjointed, follow: Sandbagging in the days preceding the flood; the buses transporting to sandbagging sites; UND teams & coaches and public school students being released to help sandbag; sandbagging to protect homes all through the city next to the river... and many others that weren't. I remember Red Cross and Salvation Army trucks serving sandwiches to sustain workers; constant radio and TV reports; sounds of generators and pumps; worrying about my daughter and her family who were in a more 'dangerous' location than my wife and I; leaving the City at the last possible moment. Then we were staying one night at the Air Base, feeling our home was safe from the waters; Shooting Star Casino offering free rooms to 'evacuees'; spending time in NE with relatives; returning to the city 3 weeks later to find our losses were minimal. However, power had been out, we ended up losing a freezer full of fresh beef; finding our parakeets dead....and yet, we were so well off compared to almost everyone we knew.
Our church was one hard hit. As music director I assessed the losses at over $10,000 in music alone which was a pittance compared to the overall loss. Our church, Calvary Lutheran, became a center for volunteers from around the country to assemble into teams to go help 'muck out' basements. I took on the role of a 'team leader' and worked in dank house and business basements including in many that were doomed to failure and destruction. The work went on for approximately 6 weeks.
I remember the first meeting Dr. Mark Sanford had with school district personnel. I had been retired for a few years at that point, but I attended and was so impressed with his handling of the situation and his explanation of losses and calm assurance that things would be okay.
I shall long remember the smells, the huge piles of belongings on the berms, trucks hauling thousands of tons of peoples' belongings away; unusually high number of deaths in the community in the year following; friends leaving the city. I recall the generosity of Joan Crock and that although there were some attempts to collect fraudulently, many were aided by the money she donated. Fortunately we weren't in an area that warranted her assistance.
How did the Flood of 1997 change your life or your community?
I lived in Grand Forks for another 3 years after the flood and my personal home was not affected that much, however, almost every other aspect of life was changed: businesses, schools, churches and almost every friend and acquaintance suffered stress and loss. My daughter and her family moved away that summer after losing their basement and many of their belongings. Their loss was also mine.
In the years since I have been proud of the determination and hard work that has gone into making Grand Forks/East Grand Forks more attractive cities than ever. All those responsible have every reason to feel proud.
Ron Oltmanns
Las Vegas, NV
What is your memory of the flood?
As the sole pharmacy providing 24 hour-a-day emergency services the evening of the dike failure, my firm became involved in a huge way with the 'refuge' outflow from communities on the Red River of the North. We handled the needs of complete nursing home populations and staff evacuees. State board of pharmacy waivers were first sought and acquired by our firm for distressed persons with nothing but empty prescription containers. We filled prescriptions 24 hours a day so the needs of these most unfortunate people could be met. We coordinated our efforts with the Salvation Army and local charitable organizations to fulfill humanitarian health needs regardless of ability to pay.
How did the Flood of 1997 change your life or your community?
Pennington county population nearly doubled. Relocation of refugees was gradual as the flood abated. Many stayed for quite some time. The prospect for renewing a pre-flood lifestyle was grim for most evacuees. My daily conversations with most of them was nevertheless uplifting. These people were motivated to rebuild their lives outside Grand Forks. After all, mortgages, credit card debt, bank debt and most of all -no income- was a huge spur to action. The average person did not buy into the government bailout promises and political lobbying of Congress by city officials for flood relief funding.
Robert Ekeren
Thief River Falls, MN
What is your memory of the flood?
I was placed on state active duty and spent several nights walking the dikes in north Fargo.
I also walked door to door in the Oak Grove neighborhood more then 30 days prior to the flood asking them to buy flood insurance policies. Some of the people that bought policies lost their homes to the flood.
Bruce Karevold
Fargo, ND
What is your memory of the flood?
Living in a small village 10 miles southeast of Fargo (Sabin, MN), coming in to work on a road that became a dike. All the land surrounding it on all sides was covered; you only saw water, and a few trees dotting the horizon. Only one bridge was open between Fargo and Moorhead; crossing the Red River Bridge meant going in to work early to allow for extra traffic. Crossing also meant you noticed towards the height of the flood that if it went up anymore it would overflow, having reached the bottom of the bridge.
How did the Flood of 1997 change your life or your community?
It reminded me that we live in a delta plain, and that the river is an ever-present component of where we live. That we need to respect it, and take care of it. It doesn't always have to be an enemy, but we need to be ready when it goes out-of-control. I've lived in the Red River Valley all my life, and been through many floods. It never gets easier.
Trish Lewis
Fargo, ND
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