After the Flood
The amount of destruction and filth left behind once the flood waters
finally receded was incredible. The water that took over the city streets
and the inside of homes was extremely dirty, and made clean up essential
for everything it had touched. Much of people's possessions could not be
saved from the extensive damage. Interior floors and walls soaked and
contaminated with flood water had to be destroyed before any rebuilding
could start. Residents were forced to throw most of their belongings in
the trash. The post-flood clean up that was trucked to the landfills
totaled 224 million tons - usually nine months of garbage.
It seems that after being struck with a tradgedy of this magnitude,
residents would lose hope and ambition when dealing with the clean up
necessary for starting over, but the residents of Grand Forks managed to
remain positive and accept the enormous task that lie ahead of them.
The nation was watching when this terrible disaster struck, and many
donations came in to aid with the flood releif. Joan Kroc, McDonald's
heiress donated money so that each household devastated by flood waters
would receive $2,000. Volunteers also started pouring in from all over.
Northwest Airlines provided free airfare for 500 volunteers to come from
Minneapolis to aid in the clean up efforts. In the four months following
the flood nearly 20,000 volunteers came to Grand Forks to help out, and
this doesn't include the family members or friends that came in just to
help the people that they knew.
I made a trip to Grand Forks with my family in July 1997 - exactly 3
months after the flood started. At this time, the city had come a
long way, but there was still a lot of clean up left to do. Near to the
river, a thin coating of mud on streets and in yards could still be
observed. Refuse waiting to be picked up and hauled to the landfills
still lined most of the residential and downtown streets. The four foot
high water line still stained the downtown windows that had glass
remaining in the window frame. The fire and smoke damaged buildings
displayed dark black stains, and the remains of the now demolished burnt
buildings downtown had yet to be taken away from the site. The city
looked a whole lot different from what I remembered it to be on my various
trips to Grand Forks during my childhood years. It was all really very
sad to see.
During our stay, we decided to volunteer with the Salvation
Army to aid in the clean up efforts. We were assigned to a home in East
Grand Forks that had been flooded with 2 feet of water on the first
floor. They needed us to rip out the bottom half of the wall in the
living and dining rooms - sheetrock, insulation and all. This proved to
be very hard work, and we were glad to be able to help out the elderly
couple that owned the house, because it would've been too difficult for
them to attmept doing this work on their own.
My family and I took a lot of pictures of the wreckage caused by the
flood and I have chosen some of them to display here on my web page.
A home in Grand Forks - 3 months after the flood.
A home in the Lincoln Drive area of Grand Forks.
Floodwaters
lifted up this house off its foundation
and set it back down on the
car parked in the driveway.
The scene downtown in July 1997.
Notice water line on the window.
Kato's - a basement hair salon in downtown Grand Forks.
The top floor was destroyed by fire
in the First National Bank
One of the downtown buildings completely destroyed by fire.
Inspirational murals were painted on boarded
up windows downtown
offering hope to people of the city.
Me, volunteering with the Salvation Army.
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