Grand Forks residents return to clean up big mess
By Gerry Gilmour
The Forum
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Tim Cameron came home this week to face a daunting task.

"It’s not the end of the world," he said as he surveyed his family’s soggy basement belongings. "It just seemed like it for a day or so there."

Like thousands upon thousands of residents forced to flee floodwater last week, the U.S. Air Force staff sergeant has returned to reclaim the house and the town he calls home.

The best way to describe post-flood Grand Forks is this: a mess.

There’s dirt and debris everywhere – garbage, clay roadway dikes, full and empty sandbags, furniture, dirty toys, bikes and garbage.

Flooded cars are easy to spot, with their rear ends swung off the street and the telltale moisture on the windows.

The water is receding slowly but surely, but not without leaving its slimy water-line calling card on buildings and homes.

Returnees here will tell you there’s no place like home, but there’s also nothing like the smell and mess of a flooded home.

The recovery residents here embarked upon Monday spread ten-fold as the city opened up more neighborhoods to displaced homeowners.

They returned not to stay – there’s still no municipal water and sewer, and no electricity and gas service in most of Grand Forks – but to clean.

Some 50,000 residents are scattered throughout the region, as far east as the Twin Cities and as far west as Minot, N.D. Those with a camper and a love of the outdoors have set up temporary homes in the Grand Forks KOA Campground south of the city along Interstate 29.

"I usually have about five or 10 campers this time of the year," campground owner Al Shane said Tuesday morning, surrounded by nearly 100 recreational vehicles. "I wish I had another 200 sites. If I had another 1,000 it might not be enough."

In the Riverside Park area on the north side of Grand Forks, near still submerged homes in Lincoln Park and in newer neighborhoods to the west and south Tuesday, the boulevard scene was much the same.

The hum of gas-powered pumps was heard everywhere, as blue flexible hoses carried water from flooded basements and first floors into muddy streets where only a week ago water flowed 4 and 5 feet deep.

Residents in boots, rubber gloves and grubby garb pulled carpet, furniture, television sets, exercise equipment, appliances – you name it – out to curbside piles.

Portable toilets and National Guard water tanks are set up as neighborhoods are opened up.

Larry Metzger looked for a bucket to prime his pump near Riverside Park. He said the water got the lower level, including the ceiling tiles, but it looked like the main floor was spared.

"I was kind of skeptical, so I did take the (federal) flood insurance," he said. "There was a hell of a lot of snow this winter."

People have been told to drain their basements slowly, a little each day over three or four days, so walls and foundations don’t buckle.

Downtown, demolition of the buildings destroyed by fire April 19 and 20 continued. Those with legitimate business Tuesday were allowed past North Dakota Army National Guard checkpoints.

Brig. Gen. Murray Sagsveen is North Dakota Adjutant General Keith Bjerke’s commander in town and liaison for Gov. Ed Schafer to local and federal disaster officials.

Rather than locking down the entire town, sections are opened up to residents and then heavily patrolled by troops and law enforcement officials. Sheriff’s deputies, state troopers and police officers from across the state are assisting.

"We’re trying to support the overall concept of life returning to normal," he said. "Neighbors are helping each other and helping us. They know who’s supposed to be in an area and who’s not."

Sagsveen said there have been very few reports of burglary.

A team of damage assessment engineers arrived Thursday morning to take a look at the Grand Forks Herald. The local newspaper suffered a double whammy of flood and fire and is producing its paper from a school in Manvel, N.D.

Across the street, Grand Forks School District employee Kelly Neis was looking through Grand Forks Central High School, trying to find paychecks left on desks prior to evacuation.

Near Lincoln Park, Robert Maxon started to pump the water out of a home. The Grand Forks real estate agent said its one of five homes flooded that he has tied up in sales agreements.

"The closing on this one is supposed to be today," he said. "I don’t know about that ... ."

On Crescent Drive – near United Hospital – Cameron and his neighbors teamed up to begin the removal of thousands of sandbags, thrown around their homes April 18 and 19 in a desperate but doomed 11th-hour defense against flooding.

Cameron’s wife, Kay, and their children, David, 10, and Heidi, 8, are in Miltona, Minn., probably until school is out.

"They’re in school in Miltona now. They just found out they’re going on a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo, so they’re excited about that," Cameron said.

He said the washing machine is the only thing from the basement that can be saved.

They moved it upstairs before they left. He talked to a Federal Emergency Management Agency representative who said they might get help for a furnace, but that’s about it. They’ll have to replace their belongings over time.

Deacon Sam Pupino Tuesday afternoon was helping run the pumps at Holy Family Catholic Church in south Grand Forks.

Water filled the sanctuary, reaching the first step of the altar, and flooded the school and rectory.

Pupino said there’s no way of knowing how severe or long-term the damage is. He said he hopes the oak pews can be refinished.

"I was telling someone from our congregation that now we know what it’s like to be a flood victim," Pupino said. "Now we know what it’s like to be homeless.

"We’ve lost something, as a community, that’s very precious to us. Now we’re going to have to pull it back together. The people of this parish, the people of North Dakota and the people of this region are good at pulling things back together."