Floods in the Red River Valley (S4996)

Historical Sketch

In April 1997, the Red River of the North, which marks the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, flooded. The immediate effects of the flooding were well covered by the local and national media. But the long-term difficulties of rebuilding homes, businesses, and lives after the flood receded are less well known. People who live in the Red River Valley have struggled with the challenges of flood recovery, with problems rebuilding their homes, their businesses, and their sense of security.

The core of this collection is the set of oral interview transcripts. These interviews were undertaken by the Northwest Center with funding assistance from the Minnesota Historical Society. Selected individuals were interviewed over a period of 15 months. These people represented government officials, homeowners, business owners, and others who were asked to describe their perspectives on flood recovery problems. The interviews range in length from one to two hours, and are fully transcribed on paper. In addition to the set of transcripts in this collection, a second set of transcripts is deposited at the Minnesota Historical Society, while a third set is in the collections of the Lake Agassiz Regional Library in northwest Minnesota. Tapes of the interviews are also preserved at the Northwest Center and the Minnesota Historical Society. 

Collection Description

This collection consists of correspondence, documents, oral interviews and transcripts, photographs, publications, news clippings, video and audio tapes, all in excellent condition.

Inventory

Box 1

  • Ada, Minnesota, Bridges Medical Center, Nursing Home
  • American Red Cross
  • Breckenridge, Minnesota
  • CNN (Cable News Network, Inc.)
  • Disaster
    • Recovery
    • Relief
     
  • East Grand Forks, Minnesota
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • First National Bank, North Dakota
  • Flood Diary. April-May 1997
  • Forks Focus (Newsletter)
  • The Forum. 1997
  • Grand Forks Herald. 1997-98
  • Grand Forks Voluntary Buyout Status Chart
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • International Joint Commission
  • KX4 Floodtalk
  • Lake Agassiz Regional Library (LARL)
  • Minnesota
    • Department of Economic Security
    • Division of Emergency Management
    • Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
    • Public Radio
     
  • Miscellaneous Documents
    • Flood
    • Post-Flood
     
  • 1997 Water Bottle, Moorhead State University 

Box 2

  • Moorhead, Minnesota
    • City Manager's Office
    • Flood Insurance Maps
    • Press Releases
    • Public Services Department
     
  • National Weather Service
  • Nora Lutheran Church
  • Norman County Index
  • Norman County, Minnesota
  • North American Center for Emergency Communications (NACEC)
  • North Dakota
    • Department of
      • Agriculture
      • Geosciences
      • Health
       
    • Division of Emergency Management
    • State University Extension Service
     
  • Northern States Power (NSP)
  • Post-flood Workshop, "A Flood of Emotions." 1997
  • Recovery Road
  • Recovery Times
  • Salvation Army
  • Second Harvest
  • Small Business Administration (SBA)
  • Twin Valley, Minnesota, Emergency Shelter
  • United States Army Corps of Engineers
    • Flood
      • Recovery Reports. 1997
      • Situation Reports. 1997
       
    • News Releases. 1996-97
    • Web Site Documents
     
  • United States Geological Survey, "Stream Gaging"
  • Volunteers
  • WCCO Television 

Box 2A

  • Red River Valley Flood Information, Newspaper Clippings. 1897; 1945-1990; 2009 

Box 3

    •  Come Hell and High Water. 1997  
    • Community in Crisis: A Community Action Agency's Response to the 1997 Red River Valley Floods. 1997
    • Concordia. 1997
    • Delivering Human Services in a Time of Disaster: Flood of 1997. ND Dept. of Human Services
    • Fighting Back: The Blizzards and Floods in the Red River Valley, 1996-97. 1997
    • A Flood of Memories: Lincoln Elementary School.
    • The Flood of 1997: Moorhead Recovers. 1997
    • Flooding in the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Area. 1980
    • The Floods of 1997: A Special Report. 1997
    • Journeys: North Dakota's Trail Towards Disaster Resistance. 2001
    • Living with the Red: A Report to the Governments of Canada and the U.S. on Reducing Flood Impacts. 2000
    • Minnesota National Guard Flood Fight '97 Operational Review. 1997
    • Minnkota Messenger: Special Disaster Issue. 1997
    • The Next Flood: Getting Prepared. Final report of the International Red River Basin Task Force, 2000.
    • 1996 North American Emergency Response Guidebook. 1996
    • North Dakota Water: Flood Disaster of 1997. 1997
    • Phase 1: Survey of Property Owners in Lincoln Drive, Riverside Park and Central Park Acquisition Areas. 1998
    • One Year Has Passed. 1998
    • Red River Flooding: Short-Term Measures. 1997
    • Red River of the North 1997 Floods: Service Assessment and Hydraulic Analysis. 1998
    • The Red River Valley Flood: "A Time of Need, Togetherness and Tears". 1997
    • A River Comes for a Visit: A Story About the 1997 Flood. 1997
    • A Small Town's War: East Grand Forks 1997 Flood Fight. 1999
    • Soil Survey: The Red River Valley Area Minnesota. 1939
    • 2009 Red River Historical Flooding. 2009
    • Tri-Valley Opportunity Council Annual Report, 1997.Published Materials 

Box 4

  • Audio/Video Tapes
    • Beyond the Flood: The Flood of '97: The People, Their Stories
    • Come Hell and High Water: Sights and Sounds of the 1997 Red River Flood
    • Discovery Channel, Flood of the Millennium
    • Grand Forks Public Television Call-In Show on "The Next Flood". 1997
    • Jorgenson, Dave, 1950 Flood
    • KFGO Radio, Flood of the Century Broadcasts
    • KVLY Television, From Ruin to Recovery
    • KXJB Television, A Season 4 Survivors
    • The Norman County Flood of 1997
    • Northern States Power, When Nature's Worst Met NSP's Best
    • University of ND Foundation, UND Flood Recovery ’97: Facing the Challenge
    • WDAY Television, Floodwatch '97
    • WDAZ Television, Force of Nature?
     
  • CD-ROM, Journey: North Dakota Trail Towards Disaster Resistance

Box 5

  • Photographs/Slides
    • Ada, Minnesota
    • Breckenridge, Minnesota
    • East Grand Forks, Minnesota
    • Fargo, North Dakota
    • Grand Forks, North Dakota
    • Granite Falls, Minnesota
    • Miscellaneous (See also UA 35-1, Presentation by Phi Sigma Epsilon)
    • Moorhead, Minnesota.1997; 2001
    • Negatives
    • Nora Lutheran Church
    • Wahpeton, North Dakota
     
    • Ada, Minnesota
    • Agriculture, Impact of Flood
    • Army Corps of Engineers and Flood Recovery
    • Breckenridge, Minnesota
    • Canada, Impact of Flood; articles from Canadian magazine Maclean’s
    • Churches and Flood Recovery
    • East Grand Forks, Minnesota
    • Families, Impact of Flood
    • Fargo, North Dakota
    • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Flood Recovery
    • Flood Control
    • Governments (Federal and State) and Flood Recovery
    • Grand Forks, North Dakota
    • Minnesota Communities (various)
    • Moorhead, Minnesota
    • North Dakota Communities (various)
    • Red River Valley
    • Five Years Later. 2002
    • General flooding and flood recovery in region.1997-
    • Relief Organizations and Flood Recovery
    • Water Management Issues and Flood Recovery
    • Winter Storms of 1997 and Impact on Flooding News Clippings

Boxes 6 & 7

  • Material from flood exhibit that was developed by the Audio-Visual Department of MSU 
  • Sand Bottle. 2009

 

Box 8

  • Ebb Tide Flood Exhibit
    • Correspondence
    • Evaluation Forms, Returned
    • Financial
    • Forms
    • Grant
    • Panels
    • Publicity
     
  • Flood Guide, Master
  • Oral Interviews
    • Correspondence
    • Miscellaneous
     

 Outside of Boxes

  • Transcripts of Interviews (Located in Transcript File Drawers)
    • Austin, Sheryl, Shari Labine, and Bonnie Upham
    • Barrett, Mary
    • Bauer, Tim
    • Bertschi, Tim
    • Birkemeyer, Jim
    • Buck, Michelle and Amber Waltman
    • Buckalew, Craig
    • Dahl, Greg
    • Dohman, Pam
    • Dunlevy, Mary Ann
    • Ebner, Lynne
    • Evert, Jon
    • Holmvik, Greg
    • Huseby, Lincoln
    • Jurgens, Paul
    • Knighton, Karen
    • Laken, Neoma
    • Manske, Joel
    • Martin, Robert
    • Mikkelson, Steve
    • Montplaisir, Annette
    • Pearson, Wendy
    • Pederson, Ron and John Stumpf
    • Reimer, Herb
    • Schuster, William
    • Schwandt, William
    • Stennes, Greg
    • Thomas, Audrey
    • Thronson, Myron and Kevin Ruud
    • Tobias, Nanci
    • Tobias, Randy
    • Visser, Ken and Wanda
    • Weber, Susan and Laurie Holtman