wfn.org | Rising water isolates many Dakotan families

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Dec. 16, 1998 Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York  {741}

By  Susan Kim*
 
ROSLYN, S.D. (UMNS) -- Whenever Marianne Aadland hears a  popping sound,
it's time to shovel and sweep away another section of  her floor.

Rising water has caused the foundation of her two-bedroom  house to sink
-- in turn buckling and crumbling the cement floor in  her basement. 

Recently she was mowing her lawn when her head brushed the clothesline.
"That means the backyard has sunk at least  one-and-a-half feet," she
said. When a neighbor helped pull up the  clothesline poles, Marianne
discovered water under a foot-thick  layer of dry dirt. 

"I think that within a year I'll have a sinkhole in my backyard,"  she
said. 
 
Water has been on a slow rise in both the Waubay Lake basin of South
Dakota and the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota since 1993. Not  only
are the major lakes rising, but once-dry sloughs are becoming
groundwater pools or even new lakes. 

In the Waubay Lake basin, Nina Martin, project  coordinator of the
United Methodist-related organization, Upper  Midwest Recovery, said the
slow flooding requires a different  response. "In faster-moving
disasters -- like the last major flood  -- you have a much more tangible
mission as a response organization.  In this, you find yourself asking:
at what point does it become a  crisis? 

"People are fighting like crazy to keep their homes. But even when  they
win that, their access is cut off when water covers the road," she
added. "Historically, this part of the country was once a lake, and now
nature is reclaiming the land." 
 
Upper Midwest Recovery has hired two people in that area, one to
identify needs and resources, the other a parish nurse who works  with
the ecumenical ministerial association to provide both basic  medical
services and mental health referrals. 

The Rev. Brad Peterson, pastor at American Lutheran Church in  Webster,
S.D., has worked with Lutheran Disaster Response to stock a  Needs
Anonymous store, providing food, clothes, and other personal  items for
flood survivors. An ecumenical Crop Walk, sponsored by  Church World
Service, raised additional funds to support the  response effort. 

Above-average rain for several consecutive years does not wholly explain
the slow but devastating floods in these regions. Part of  the
frustration for people is simply not knowing why this is  happening.

As counties strapped for money can no longer maintain  roads or
ambulance services, lawsuits over water drainage pit farmer  against
farmer, and the already-stricken farm economy plunges  further into
decline.  

"What we have is a completely different type of disaster," said  Bonnie
Turner, Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. "The Red  River Valley
flooding (Spring 1977) was like a heart attack. Well,  this is a cancer.
It's eating away at people's lives. There are  thousands of acres
projected to go under still. We are really seeing depressed
communities." 

In the North Dakota Devil's Lake region, faith-based leaders from
Lutheran Disaster Response, United Methodist Committee on Relief,
United Church of Christ, Catholic Social Services, Second Harvest,  the
Grain Train, and the Salvation Army have formed the Resource Agencies
Faith Team, or RAFT. 

RAFT has created a Disaster Information Center at the Devil's Lake
Mall, staffed through funds pooled from the various denominations,
where people can both learn about available resources or simply  share
their frustrations. RAFT is funding the printing of a  wallet-size card
that lists resources from mental health to day care  to food assistance.

RAFT also plans to work with the Agriculture Department to pair mental
health professionals with agriculture mediators, so that farm  families
hearing about their government assistance options can also  learn how
local churches can help.  Persons wishing to help may sent contributions
through their local church, designated: 1997 Spring Floods and Storms --
Advance 901680-3.

#  #  #
		
*Kim is a writer for Disaster News Network, which can be found online at
www.disasternews.net. 
 

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(615)742-5470
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