Video shows flood

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

April 23, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

For many flood evacuees temporarily living in the Bemidji area, Tuesday was the first opportunity they had to view the homes they left when the Red River flowed over dikes Saturday and emptied the towns of East Grand Forks and Grand Forks, N.D.

About 120 evacuees -- about 80 at Bemidji State University and another 40 to 50 at Northwest Technical College-Bemidji -- attended a news conference Tuesday hosted by East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss, who is still in his hometown trying to establish a city government.

Another 350 to 400 evacuees were estimated to have watched the conference at other evacuation sites such as Thief River Falls and Crookston.

After the news conference, a two-hour video of East Grand Forks was shown, allowing the evacuees the first chance to view what is left of their ghost town.

"I have to commend everybody from East Grand Forks -- and from Grand Forks as well," a stoic Stauss said to his audience via interactive television. "We fought a battle that Mother Nature won, but I don't think there was anything we could have done with our current dike system to prevent it."

Stauss informed the audience that earlier Tuesday he and some residents of the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks area had talked with President Bill Clinton and Minnesota and North Dakota congressmen about relief for the area, which he said looked good in light of a congressional plan named "The Marshall Plan."

The Marshall Plan is basically the same that was used to rebuild Europe after World War I, Stauss said, and under the plan 90 percent of rebuilding costs would be provided by the federal government and 10 percent from state government.

"Who would think that in the middle of America we would become refugees -- because that is what we are refugees," he said. "We help people all over the world. We can at least do that for our people."

In other matters:

* Stauss said a makeshift city government has been established at the Comfort Inn located on the very eastern edge of the city. An informational line has been established, and evacuees may call (218) 773-1220 to reach city officials.

"We have to have that tie to you and communicate so that rumors don't start," he said.

The temporary city hall phone number can also be used to have pets evacuated from homes.

* The police station was saved from the flood and has been operating since people were evacuated Saturday, Stauss said. In addition, the Department of Natural Resources Enforcement Division has been patrolling city streets in boats to prevent looting.

* Flood-fighting efforts were still being conducted to save the East Grand Forks water treatment plant which could make the eventual return even sooner, Stauss said.

He said as of Tuesday the plant was still in working order, and that if the operation can be maintained, the water could also be diverted to aid Grand Forks in the near future, which had its water treatment planted ruined by the flood.

* Stauss announced there will be an attempt to hold a news conference such as the Tuesday event every day at 5 p.m. until evacuees could return to their homes. He added that more information would be disseminated about the news conferences later.

* School in at least East Grand Forks has been canceled for the rest of the year due to the extensive damage to most of the schools.

University of North Dakota classes have been canceled for the rest of second semester as well, and one of three different scenarios will be worked out for grades. Either students will receive the grade as of the time school was canceled; or they will receive a pass/fail grade; or incompletes will be given that students can complete. More information would be available later, Stauss said.

* The mayor announced that evacuees displaced from work should contact the nearest employment agency to them and start registering now, so that the process of funding can begin.

He added evacuees should also begin to register with Federal Emergency Management Agency agents in their evacuation towns because that would be where the first aid would come. FEMA agents are now working out of the Evangelical Covenant Church, located on the west side of Bemidji on Highway 2.

* Stauss said he and other East Grand Forks city officials will be in Bemidji today in the early afternoon to talk with evacuees. His probable itinerary will include a stop at the Evangelical Covenant Church.

* Most of all Tuesday, Stauss iterated to East Grand Forks evacuees not to return to the city until they were told it was safe, which might as soon as two weeks or it could be later.

"This has not been easy for you, but it's going to get worse. We are starting from scratch. We know what you're feeling, and we're doing our best for you," Stauss said pleading with evacuees not to return. "It's not safe to come back yet. To this point, we have not lost one individual, and that's remarkable. Be patient, and please do not come back yet."