wfn.org | Northern Plains Presbytery Staffers

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

13-May-1997 
97199 
 
           Northern Plains Presbytery Staffers Provide 
          Firsthand Account of Red River Flood Aftermath 
 
                  by Grace Dahl and Phil Weiler 
                Presbytery of the Northern Plains 
 
GRAND FORKS, N.D.--We've been asked by the Flood Relief Task Force of the 
Presbytery of the Northern Plains to report the following information:  
 
     The winter of 1996-97 dumped record amounts of snowfall across the Red 
River Valley.  During the final weeks of March the snow finally started 
melting. The weekend of April 3-5 we had an ice storm followed by a 
monumental blizzard. The ice storm knocked down power lines across the 
region.  People who had been pumping water from flooding basements were now 
faced with no power.  
 
     Then the floods came.  While most of the dikes held in Fargo and 
Moorhead, overland flooding took its toll, taking with it some of the 
neighborhoods in the Fargo/Moorhead area. 
 
     The world watched as Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Minn., lost the 
fight when the Red River and the Red Lake River converged on those cities, 
which had been led to expect record crests some five feet lower than they 
actually experienced.  Frantic sandbagging to meet the crisis failed, and 
eventually 90 percent of the cities were evacuated. 
 
     For those who had been working on the dikes there was no time to 
prepare to move out.  Blow-horns came down the streets in the middle of the 
night, warning people to just get out, taking medications, blankets and 
pillows. 
 
     To top it off, fires started in flooded downtown Grand Forks, taking 
out one entire block and half of another.  Firefighters were helpless to 
fight them because the hydrants were under water. 
 
     Then the cleanup started.  It is an impressive experience to drive 
along miles of street, solidly flanked on by continuous piles of junk that 
only a few days ago were household treasures. 
 
     Both Presbyterian churches (in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks) 
sustained major damage, as did the presbytery office building in Grand 
Forks.  The First Church, Grand Forks, church building may have to be 
abandoned.  Both of the pastors' homes were severely damaged, while two 
other ministers lost their homes. 
 
     We are all in the process of pumping water, clearing mud, junking 
floor coverings, cleaning furniture, ripping out wall coverings and hauling 
out furnaces, hot water heaters, washers and dryers that were submerged. 
 
     Water and sewer have been restored in most places, though the water is 
not yet drinkable.  Electricity and phone service are being restored, 
building by building, after appropriate inspections and equipment 
replacement. 
 
     We are beginning to welcome work groups, but won't be able to schedule 
overnight groups for a couple of weeks yet because no housing is available. 
The presbytery is moving quickly toward employing (hopefully in a joint 
project with local United Church of Christ folks) a coordinator of 
volunteer efforts. 
 
     Material supplies are adequate.  Money is the greatest need.  Support 
for the staff of the two churches, who continue to work despite an almost 
total shutoff of members' financial contributions, is a high priority.  The 
two churches' combined membership totals about 10 percent of the 
presbytery's total, and these members are scattered widely across the 
region and the nation. 
 
     We encourage contributions to the denominational flood relief effort 
(Presbyterian Disaster Assistance account #9-2000135), but we are also 
accepting contributions from persons and churches who prefer to give 
directly to the presbytery, to the affected churches or through other 
congregations of the presbytery. 
 
     Most of all, we covet your prayers for the traumatized people and 
institutions of these two cities, which in a few hours lost many of their 
personal possessions and much of the infrastructure by which communities 
are enabled to live together.  In the aftermath, the initial rush of 
adrenaline now past, both hope and despair are very much in evidence.  Our 
faith, our families and our friends are the keys to our recovery. 

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