April, Day by Day

April 1
The Flood of 1997 arrives with a sudden surge of field runoff into northeast Dilworth. More than 100 volunteers and city workers encircle the Orchard Estates neighborhood with dikes. Meanwhile, Fargo's sandbagging effort gets off to a slow start with a shortage of volunteers. (16')

April 2
Fargo's volunteer shortage ends when 300-400 show up at the city's sandbagging center. Residents of Casselton, N.D., urgently begin diking the north side of town as a wall of overland flooding moves unpredictably from section line to section line toward them. (16.7')

April 3
The battle continues in Casselton as adults and school children join the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fight the worst overland flooding anyone can remember. Sheets of water push against the town from the north and west. Dike-building efforts intensify in Fargo-Moorhead with news of up to 10 inches of snow forecast for the weekend. (18.8')

April 4
The Red River Valley gets a cold, wet slap in the face as rain begins to fall in the afternoon. Crest projections are raised half a foot in Wahpeton-Breckenridge and Fargo-Moorhead. Between 50 and 100 county and township roads are washed out by overland flooding in northwestern Minnesota. Several homes near Sabin, Minn., are in peril as the Buffalo River gorges the area. (22.5')

April 5
The Red River surpasses its record crest at Wahpeton-Breckenridge. Dikes break, flooding a 7-block residential area in Wahpeton; Breckenridge puts out a call for evacuation. Freezing rain and winds up to 50 mph bring down power lines and snap off power poles throughout the valley. Sandbaggers work in bone-chilling cold as the Red rises more than three feet in 24 hours in Fargo-Moorhead. (26.1')

April 6
Sandbagging takes a back seat to snow plowing as a blizzard dumps seven inches of snow on the valley. Power outages are widespread as winds up to 70 mph snap poles like TinkerToys. Wahpeton and Breckenridge wage a knock-down, drag-out fight with Mother Nature as 2.6 inches of rain combined with tree-toppling ice and heavy snow threatened the towns at the same time the Red is cresting at a record 19.2 feet. (28.3')

April 7
Minnesota National Guard troops secure Ada and Breckenridge. The entire populace of Ada moves out like war-ravaged refugees as the Marsh and Wild Rice rivers spill into town. The last straw for many was when pressure blew out drain plugs and basements filled with sewage. Ice chunks, remnants of the weekend storm, float in flooded streets. Four hundred homes are evacuated from Breckenridge. (31')

April 8
Hundreds of school children join the sandbag brigades as the Red continues to rise past 33 feet in Fargo-Moorhead. The Minnesota National Guard keeps a close watch on Ada, allowing only those with emergency business into the still-flooded town. An army of linemen scrambles to bring power back to the region, but many are left without power for the fourth day. Residents along the rising Sheyenne River watch and wait as their dikes hold. (33.3')

April 9
The National Weather Service hike Fargo-Moorhead's crest prediction by one foot, sending sandbaggers scrambling to bring dikes to unprecedented levels. Floodwaters threaten Oakport Township north of Moorhead from two directions. In every direction, thousands shiver through their fifth or sixth day without electricity. Towns along U.S. Highway 75 north of Moorhead begin preparing for the worst. (35.4')

April 10
Fargo-Moorhead breathes a sigh of relief when it is discovered that the 39.5-foot crest prediction was based on a faulty automated gauge near Hickson, N.D. the sand-bagging effort continues, but not with the same urgency of a day earlier. Some who showed up at Fargo's Volunteer Center were sent home. Some residents of Ada were allowed back into town, where they see sheets of ice resembling huge chunks of peanut brittle in heaps along boulevards. (36.8')

April 11
The Red appears to be cresting locally at the second-highest level in history at 37.55 feet. But Fargo-Moorhead residents dare not let their spirits soar. The great sea of Maple, Sheyenne, Wild Rice and Red backwater pooling around the metro area, combined with snow that must eventually melt, could combine for a second crest. Vice president Al Gore visits the Valley and lets people know that "you are not in this alone." (37.5')

April 12
The Red reaches an unofficial crest of 37.61 feet in Fargo-Moorhead. North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer tours Fargo and praises the community for binding together to fight the flood. Now the river's rate of decline will depend on the amount of precipitation and the rate of runoff from fields. The flood forecast for Grand Forks is at 49 feet the week of April 21. (37.6')

April 13
Although the Red drops two feet, Fargo-Moorhead residents are urged to stay vigilant for at least the next week. The river is not going to drop quickly. Upstream at Wahpeton-Breckenridge, a second crest is expected soon. Floodwaters break through a dike protecting Nora Lutheran Church near Garner, N.D. (37.4')

April 14
Relief turns to frustration as a second faulty river gauge forces Fargo to abandon automated number reading. The Red is on the rise again here. Breckenridge evacuates 200-300 homes after overland flooding pours more water into the city. Davenport, N.D., calls in dike workers after a small rural dike break near Kindred sends water its way. Hendrum and Perley, Minn., fight back whitecaps against their dikes. (37.3')

April 15
The Red keeps rising, topping the 38-foot mark, and it looks like it could crest for the second time this week in Fargo-Moorhead, this time threatening the 100-year-old record of 39.1. In Breckenridge, hundreds more are forced from their homes as overland flooding from the Bois de Sioux River hits town. The Red is 10 miles wide along the Traill-Norman county line. (37.9')

April 16
Floodwaters from the Sheyenne River overflow into the Wild Rice River and make a run for the southwest corner of Fargo, threatening six housing developments and Interstate 29. The Red keeps rising in Fargo-Moorhead, hitting 39 feet just before midnight. Iced-over farm fields in the valley are liquefying and running off Grand Forks residents don't like what they see to the south. (38.5')

April 17
Just after midnight, the Red surpasses its all-time high mark in Fargo-Moorhead. City leaders go on radio at 12:30 a.m. to warn residents of two far-south developments to be prepared to evacuate. The Red surges to 39.51. A section of dike blows out on Fargo's South Terrace Drive, sending a wall of water into Oak Grove Lutheran School and the surrounding neighborhood. All but a few residents of Fargo's Southwood Drive neighborhood are forced to leave their homes. (39.3)

April 18
The Red is out of control in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Residents of both cities are told to evacuate. By evening, water has spilled into downtown Grand Forks. The river is closing in on 53 feet. In Fargo, the city makes a tough call to build a massive dike on the far south side to hold back overland flooding from the south and west. The Red is cresting at a record 39.55 feet in F-M. (39.5)

April 19
The disaster worsens in Grand Forks. Hours after the overflowing Red surges through the city, fires race along some downtown rooftops. Firefighters are helpless in streets up to four feet deep in water. In Fargo, while the city's new dike is going up, residents to the south and thousands of volunteers work around the clock to save their homes from the onslaught of overland flooding. They get some relief when Cass County removes a section of Highway 81. (39.4)

April 20
The Grand Forks fires are under control, but only after nine historic downtown buildings have been destroyed. About 75 percent of Grand Forks and all of East Grand Forks have been evacuated. Many go to shelters at the Grand Forks Air Force Base and in communities up and down the valley; others move in with friends or relatives. In Fargo, the massive sandbagging efforts on the far south side save most of the endangered homes. (39.1)

April 21
Grand Forks begins the grim task of demolishing burned-out brick buildings downtwon. A crane sitting in five feet of floodwater begins taking swings at the historic structure. Water is receding in Fargo-Moorhead. South of Fargo, township roads that have been covered by water begin popping into sight. (38.7)

April 22
President Clinton visits Grand Forks, touring the area by helicopter and speaking to evacuees at the Air Force Base. He pledges $488 million in flood aid to the Dakotas and Minnesota. The Red crests at 54.1 in Grand Forks, more than five feet above the previous record. In Fargo-Moorhead, thoughts turn to cleanup efforts as the Red drops below 38 feet. (38.1)

April 23
Classes resume for Oak Grove High School students at Concordia College. Meanwhile, the Oak Grove school cleanup begins with help from faculty and students from Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls, Minn. Cleanup efforts intensify in Ada, where most of the town's 1,700 residents have returned. It'll be awhile until that happens in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, where some homes are still flooded to the rooftops and others have been pushed off their foundation. (37.5)

April 24
Some Grand Forks families are allowed back to fetch belongings and look over the damage for a few painful hours. They're struck by the force of the floodwater and the stench left in its wake. In Breckenridge, life might never really get back to normal, but many of the 3,750 residents are cleaning up and searching for some sense of normalcy. (36.9)

April 25
Fargo is slowly returning to normal as National Guard and city crews begin taking chunks out of the 40th Avenue South dike and city officials start making cleanup plans. Meanwhile, the folks in Pembina, North Dakota's oldest community, wage the state's last battle as the raging Red's floodwaters move toward Canada. (36.3)

April 26
The Red is down below 36 feed in Fargo-Moorhead. The worst is over here. Engineers' calculations and crisis management helped Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo and Dilworth fend off wholesale flooding like that in Ada, Breckenridge, Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. In Fargo, floodwater damaged 86 homes, or one-half of 1 percent. In Moorhead, floodwater entered 41 homes. (35.8)

April 27
Grand Forks residents flock back to their neighborhoods. Security loosened. It's been 10 days since the Red flooded their city. Officials seem to understand how important it is for people to get back. Some residents even move back in despite having no tap water or sewer service. (35.4)

April 28
Good riddance. That's what valley residents are feeling as the Red River's crest – miles and miles of muddy, greasy water laden with sewage and farm runoff – passes through Pembina into Canada. Its departure signals the end to the area's worst flood in history. (34.7)

April 29
Disasters bring out the best in people. Today a woman who did not want to be identified pledged to give $2,000 to each household in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. That's between $10 million and $15 million. Some folks are donating one can of soup to the Salvation Army and Red Cross. All of the help is welcome. (34.3)

April 30
There's a chill in the air. It should be warmer than this on the last day of April. But it could be worse. Just take a look at the last 29 days.