1997 Red River Valley Flood Collection

The winter of 1996-1997 was unusually harsh as eight blizzards struck the Grand Forks region of the Red River Valley. The last and one of the most severe, Blizzard Hannah, occurred April 4-6, 1997. When the snow began to melt and the Red River began to rise, the people of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks began flood preparations in earnest. However, the cities' preparations did not anticipate the extent of the flooding. Flood preparations were made to protect the cities from a 49-foot flood crest; the actual flood crested at 54.33 feet on Tuesday, April 22. On April 18, the Red River began to overrun temporary dikes along the river. Those areas in immediate danger were evacuated. As the river continued to rise without any hint of slowing, the entire cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks were evacuated on April 19. On that same day, a fire broke out in downtown Grand Forks that destroyed 11 buildings, including one entire block. During the evacuation, University of North Dakota and city of Grand Forks employees remained behind to continue to protect what they could from the still rising river crest and to perform those various administrative and governmental functions that needed to be done. On Thursday, April 24, government officials began to allow people back into the driest areas of town to visit their homes and begin the cleanup process. While the majority of the cleanup itself was finished by the end of the 1997 summer, reconstruction of destroyed basements, houses, and buildings has continued into 2000. In addition to these reconstruction efforts, the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks have been developing flood abatement strategies, most notably a 54-foot dike system in Grand Forks and a Greenway along the Red River itself.

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