Breckenridge residents anxious to get their lives back in order
By Dave Kolpack
The Forum
BRECKENRIDGE, Minn. – Diane Caspers was standing in a foot of floodwater outside her house on the south side of Breckenridge Thursday afternoon, wearing boots – and a wide smile.

"A ride in a humvee, how about that?" she asked after a National Guard officer dropped her off in one of their sleek all-terrain vehicles. "Let’s see, so far in the flood I’ve ridden in a 5-ton truck, a utility truck and now, best of all, a humvee."

About a 150 to 200 people a day have been reporting to the Salvation Army’s relocation center in Breckenridge to begin the process of moving home, most from the north side. Those citizens in the badly-beaten south side are just beginning to trickle back. That includes Caspers, who plans on pumping water out of her basement today.

"They say if you want to do it right, you should only pump out one-third of the water each day," Caspers said. "So I suppose I won’t get an idea of what it really looks like until the weekend. I’m lucky it didn’t reach the main floor, but I’m a little worried about the structure because the water has been there for two weeks."

Caspers lives to the west of the Wilkin County Courthouse, which likely will be shut down until summer. Across the street on the east side, Bob Sheeley fired up his pump to shoot water out of a massive basement, where he kept supplies for some of his rental properties.

"Yeah, that is a huge basement," Sheeley said, looking at all the floating debris. "But it could be a lot worse. Just look at Grand Forks (N.D). And I didn’t get any water on my main floor, so I feel pretty lucky."

Sheeley found out quickly that bailing water can be hazardous to your health. He suffered a cut on his hand, the result of broken glass outside his basement window.

"I had a tetanus shot last year so I should be OK," said Sheeley, who excused himself to get a Band-Aid.

Roger Gilberg, who lives south of the courthouse, wasn’t as fortunate as Caspers and Sheeley. About the only thing dry on his first floor were the kitchen cupboards. His hardwood floors had buckled under the water pressure.

Yet he’s determined to clean it up and fix it up.

"I’m anxious to get started," Gilberg said. "This has been quite a month."

Helping Gilberg with water duties was Scott Beasley of Bismarck, N.D., who is married to Gilberg’s daughter, Pam.

"We were all set to move here last month," Beasley said. "Right now I’m pretty glad we waited."

Claire Coleman, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, was helping residents wade through water in the courthouse area. He figures it will be about a week before all the residents will be able to navigate by land.

"This is my third day here and it looks much better," Coleman said, glancing down the block. "But the people are holding up surprisingly well. They’re most appreciative of what we’re doing."

Jerri Gutzner, a secretary in the city offices, said as of Thursday 122 homes had water in the basement and another 188 had flooding on the main floor. "Those are just the ones we know about," she said.

The relocation center was set up in the United Methodist Church, where the most popular items on Thursday were cleaning supplies.

"It’s going to take a massive cleanup effort," said Lt. Kevin Cedervall, a Salvation Army officer from Quincy, Ill. "This is the second flood effort I’ve been involved in, the other being in Madison, Ind. This just dwarfs what happened there. They had their city cleaned up in no time."

Fortunately, help is on the way. Blaine Hill, the city clerk, said he expects 500 volunteers from the Pillsbury Corp., 160 helpers from Monticello, Minn., and a busload from a medical firm in the Twin Cities.

"There’s a ton of volunteers," Hill said.

Paul Myers, a Salvation Army field representative from Almont, N.D., said they’re in good shape for clothes. They still need cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items, food – and money.

"Some of the stories we’ve heard here have really been heartbreaking," Myers said. "We had one young lady from Grand Forks who hitchhiked here with nothing but her cat and the clothes on her back. There was a little girl who came in here with her family, looked up and said softly, ‘We lost our kitty.’ There’s a lot of emotional distress."