Slide show put together by Mike Maidenberg.

This was used in the

aftermath of the 1997 flood to show what the community and the
newspaper that served it experienced.

IN APRIL OF 1997, DISASTER STRUCK GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA AND

EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA. A MASSIVE FLOOD FORCED EVACUATION OF
BOTH COMMUNITIES. THE RED RIVER WAS STILL RISING WHEN FIRE TORE
THROUGH THE HISTORIC HEART OF GRAND FORKS.

THE WORLD WE KNEW WAS CHANGED FOREVER IN JUST DAYS. TO REBUILD

WILL TAKE YEARS.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT GREAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN BOTH OUR
PHYSICAL---AND PSYCHOLOGICAL---RECONSTRUCTION. THROUGHOUT OUR
ORDEAL, VOLUNTEER EFFORT HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARY. DESPITE FITS AND
STARTS, FEDERAL, STATE AND CITY GOVERNMENTS PERFORMED WELL. WE
ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE ASSISTANCE FROM COMMUNITIES AROUND NORTH
DAKOTA AND MINNESOTA, AND FROM HELP THAT CAME FROM AMERICANS
EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING A UNIQUE GIFT MADE BY A WOMAN WHO CAME TO
BE KNOWN AS "THE ANGEL".

THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF WORK REMAINING, BUT WE ARE CONFIDENT IN

OUR FUTURE. THE WATCHWORD IS THAT OUR COMMUNITY---AND THE
NEWSPAPER WHICH SERVES IT---WILL COME BACK BIGGER, BETTER AND
STRONGER. IN SHORT, WE ARE REINVENTING OURSELVES.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE TELL A TALE OF DISASTER---

AND RECOVERY. THE IMAGES INCLUDE SOME OF THE MOST DRAMATIC
PHOTOGRAPHS PUBLISHED IN THE GRAND FORKS HERALD OR ANY NEWSPAPER.
MANY HAVE ENTERED FOREVER INTO THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION AS SYMBOLS
OF THE HUMAN CONDITION: DISASTER. DESPAIR. UNITY. HOPE. TRIUMPH.

THE STORY OF THE FLOOD OF 1997 BEGINS WITH THE WINTER THAT LEAD
UP TO IT.
Slide# Narration
1. IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES. SEVEN BLIZZARDS HAD HIT US
THROUGH MARCH, AND IT WAS BECOMING HARD TO FIND A PLACE
TO PUT ALL THE SNOW...
2. ...YET IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES. THE [then] FIGHTING
SIOUX OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA TOOK THE NCAA
DIVISION ONE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP.
3. ...AND IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, AS AN APRIL BLIZZARD THE HERALD
NAMED "HARD-HEARTED HANNAH" BECAME OUR EIGHTH OF THE
SEASON, SNAPPING POWER POLES AND ADDING A FOOT TO THE
ALREADY RECORD SNOW PACK. WE KNEW THE SPRING MELT
WOULD BE DANGEROUS. THE RIVER’S HIGHEST CREST PRIOR TO 1997
WAS 49 FEET.
4. ON APRIL 15, ONE WEEK AFTER BLIZZARD HANNAH, WE TOLD READERS TO
BRACE THEMSELVES.
5. BY THE 17TH, THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH CROSSED INTO RECORD
TERRITORY, AND BEGAN WHAT WOULD BE AN INEXORABLE RISE
THAT OVERWHELMED ALL OUR DEFENSES.
6. GRAND FORKS KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT FLOODS. FOR WEEKS
PRIOR TO THE MELT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY WAS MOBILIZED IN
PREPARATION...

7. ...UP AND DOWN THE RIVERFRONT WE BEGAN AN AROUND-

THE-CLOCK SANDBAGGING EFFORT.
8. WE LAID MILES OF SANDBAGS IN AN EFFORT TO RAISE AND
REINFORCE THE EXISTING CLAY DIKES BENEATH.

9. THERE WERE SOME REMARKABLE ENGINEERING FEATS

ACCOMPLISHED BOTH ON DRY LAND...
10. ...AND IN THE ICY RIVER WHEN THAT BECAME NECESSARY.

11. THE TWO WEEKS WE SPENT LAYING DIKES WERE A LONG,

EXHAUSTING, AND, ULTIMATELY, FUTILE EFFORT.
12. ON FRIDAY, APRIL 18, THE DISASTER DAWNED. THIS WAS OUR PAPER
THAT DAY, THE SECOND TO LAST WE PRINTED IN OUR DOWNTOWN
PLANT.

.
13. THAT SAME DAY THE RIVER CAME OVER THE DIKES
PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY, SPILLING FIRST INTO THE LOW-
LYING AREAS LIKE THIS ONE IN THE LINCOLN DRIVE
NEIGHBORHOOD.

14. THIS IS A VIEW OF THE ENTIRE LINCOLN DRIVE AREA. AS ITS DIKE
FAILED, OTHERS TOO WERE OVERTOPPED. THE AROUND-THE-CLOCK
BATTLE TO SAVE THE CITY WAS LOST.
15. THIS WAS OUR EDITION ON SATURDAY, APRIL 19. IT WOULD BE THE
LAST PAPER PRINTED OUR PRESS DOWNTOWN.
16. THE FLOOD SLOWLY FILLED NEARLY THE ENTIRE CITY.
WATER REACHED TO MAIN FLOORS AND IN MANY CASES TO
ROOFTOPS.

17. THOSE WHO DIDN'T LEAVE AT FIRST WARNING HAD TO

EVACUATE BY CANOE...
18. ...OR BY MOTOR BOAT...

19. ...OR BY THE NATIONAL GUARD TRUCK CALLED THE "DEUCE-

AND-A-HALF".
20. COAST GUARD RESCUE MISSIONS WERE LAUNCHED ALONG
TREE-LINED STREETS.
21. AND THE WATER CREATED MACABRE AND HORRIFYING SCENES.
22. THE RED RIVER BURST OUT OF ITS NORMALLY NARROW
CHANNEL TO BECOME A VAST LAKE WHICH ENGULFED OUR
COMMUNITY---BUT FLOOD WAS NOT THE ONLY TRAGEDY TO
BEFALL US.

23. ON THE AFTERNOON OF SATURDAY, APRIL 19, FIRE BROKE

OUT IN THE FLOODED DOWNTOWN. THE SOURCE WAS LOCATED
IN THE SAME BLOCK AS TWO OF OUR THREE BUILDINGS.
24. THE NIGHT OF APRIL 19 AND THE MORNING OF APRIL 20, THOSE
TWO BUILDINGS BURNED. A FIREMAN SNAPPED THIS SHOT OF
OUR SECOND-FLOOR NEWSROOM IN FLAMES. WE LOST OUR
CLIPS, OUR PHOTO FILES, OUR COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF 118
YEARS OF PUBLICATION.
25. FIRE TRUCKS WERE OF LITTLE USE. THE BLAZE WAS
FOUGHT MOSTLY FROM THE AIR, USING FOREST FIRE
TECHNIQUES. FOR THREE EERIE DAYS WE WERE A COMMUNITY
WHOSE HISTORIC HEART WAS UNDER AERIAL BOMBARDMENT.

26. THE MAIN HERALD BUILDING, AN ART DECO CLASSIC

CONSTRUCTED IN 1931, DID NOT BURN, BUT THE THREE FEET OF
WATER THAT INVADED IT WASHED OUT OUR ADVERTISING
DEPARTMENT AND SILENCED OUR PRESS AND MAILROOM.
27. ON TUESDAY, APRIL 22, THE RIVER CRESTED. THAT SAME
DAY, KNIGHT-RIDDER CEO TONY RIDDER AND I WENT DOWN TO
THE NEWSPAPER IN SHIPS---ACTUALLY A BOAT FURNISHED BY
THE STATE GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT.

28. OUR DESTROYED BUILDINGS LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD

UNDERGONE ARTILLERY SHELLING...
29. ...AS DID THE ENTIRE DOWNTOWN AREA.

30. HELP ARRIVED SWIFTLY. THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET

FLEW IN. CLINTON WOULD SOON INTRODUCE A MASSIVE RELIEF
BILL FOR FLOOD VICTIMS.
31. MAYOR PAT OWENS BECAME A NATIONAL SYMBOL OF
CARING AND DETERMINATION.

32. AND SO WE TOLD OUR READERS.

33. THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS ARRIVED FROM ALL AROUND
THE COUNTRY ...
34. ...INCLUDING 254 MEN AND WOMEN FROM KNIGHT-RIDDER
NEWSPAPERS. THIS IS MIKE CASSIDY FROM THE SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS.

35. OVER 90% OF OUR COMMUNITY EVACUATED TO PLACES

LIKE THIS HANGAR AT GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE. THEY
STAYED THERE FOR DAYS, IN SOME CASES FOR WEEKS...
36. ...DOING WHAT THEY COULD TO KEEP THEIR SPIRITS UP.

37. —–AND THEN THE CLEAN UP BEGAN.

38. RESIDENTS CAME BACK TO SCENES THAT WERE HORRIFYING...
39. ...AND HEARTBREAKING.

40. FORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T LOSE OUR SENSE OF HUMOR...

41. ...DESPITE DAUNTING EVIDENCE OF THE RIVER'S

DESTRUCTIVE POWER.
42. JUST GETTING ROADS OPEN WAS A MAJOR TASK. HERE, AN
EMERGENCY CLAY DIKE BLOCKED THE BRIDGE TO OUR SISTER
CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA.

43. THE FURNITURE, FIXTURES AND BELONGINGS THAT

REPRESENTED THE ACCUMULATED LIVES OF SO MANY FRIENDS
AND NEIGHBORS LINED CITY STREETS FOR WEEKS...
. 44. ...AND THEN WOUND UP AT THE CITY LANDFILL. WE
DUMPEDTHEEQUIVALENT OF SIX YEARS OF TRASH THERE. BY THE WAY, WE
HAVE DECLARED GRAND FORKS A SHAG CARPET-FREE ZONE.
45. AT THE PAPER, WE HAD OUR OWN CLEAN UP TO TACKLE. THAT’S
OUR SIGN ON THE GROUND.

46. EVERYWHERE EDITOR MIKE JACOBS TURNED WAS

DEVASTATION.
47. OUR TWO BUILDINGS THAT BURNED HAD BEEN RESTORED IN
1993, AND WERE LANDMARKS IN DOWNTOWN GRAND FORKS.

48. YET WE SUFFERED THE SAME FATE AS SO MANY OTHERS.

49. FLOOD WATER ENTERED OUR PRESSROOM IN THE EARLY HOURS
OF SATURDAY, APRIL 19. IT WOULD REACH TO THE TOP OF THE
FOLDER. WE WERE ABLE TO PRINT TWO-THIRDS OF OUR 40,000
RUN BEFORE WE WERE FORCED TO ABANDON SHIP. THE
PRESSROOM CLOCK STOPPED AT 2:26 A.M., WHEN WE CUT POWER
TO THE BUILDING.
50. WE HAD NO TIME TO DESPAIR. WE HAD A PAPER TO PUT
OUT. ON SATURDAY WE PULLED OUR STAFF TOGETHER AND
OPERATED OUT OF THIS COMPUTER LAB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH DAKOTA. WE E-MAILED STORIES TO OUR SISTER
NEWSPAPER IN SAINT PAUL, WHICH PRINTED THE PAPER THAT
WE FLEW BACK AND DISTRIBUTED. AT THE SAME TIME, WE KEPT
OUR WEB SITE, "NORTHSCAPE", UPDATED.
51. ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, WITH THE CITY FLOODED, ITS DOWNTOWN
SMOLDERING AND ITS NEWSPAPER BURNED, TO THE
AMAZEMENT AND GRATITUDE OF OUR READERS WE PUBLISHED
THIS EDITION. IT INCLUDED A FRONT-PAGE EDITORIAL
HEADLINED, "THE DAY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING." BUT
ONCE AGAIN, WE HAD NO TIME TO PAUSE. THE THREAT OF MORE
FLOODING AND THE REALITY OF NO SANITATION OR DRINKING
WATER FORCED US TO LEAVE THE UNIVERSITY. WE SET OUT FOR
THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF MANVEL, NORTH DAKOTA.
52. SEVERAL OF OUR EMPLOYEES LIVED IN MANVEL, A FARM TOWN
OF 350 POPULATION TEN MILES NORTH OF GRAND FORKS.
53. IT HAD A MODEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. BUT INSIDE, WE KNEW, WAS A
WELL-STOCKED COMPUTER ROOM, THREE PHONE LINES, DRINKING
WATER AND TOILETS THAT FLUSHED.

54. THE PRINCIPAL, RICHARD RAY, WELCOMED US, AS DID THE ENTIRE
COMMUNITY. MR. RAY SAID HE WANTED TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR.
WE CONSIDERED HIM A SAINT. HE THOUGHT THE HERALD WOULD
BE THERE A WEEK. WE STAYED FOR TWO MONTHS.
55. WHEN THE HERALD ARRIVED WITH ITS 150+ EMPLOYEES
WE TRANSFORMED THE PLACE. THE COMPUTER ROOM BECAME
OUR NEWSROOM.

56. OUR CIRCULATORS TOOK OVER THE HEALTH ROOM.

57. NOT EVERYTHING WAS IMMEDIATELY RELOCATED TO
MANVEL. BACK IN GRAND FORKS, WE FOUND A WAY TO MOVE
BUSINESS COMPUTERS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE
STANDING BUT POWERLESS HERALD BUILDING TO A GARAGE OF
ONE OF OUR I/S TECHNICIANS.

58. THERE, NEXT TO THE WASHER, DRYER, AND FREEZER, WAS

OUR CIRCULATION INFORMATION SYSTEM AND OUR AD BILLING
SYSTEM, WHICH WE WERE ABLE TO NETWORK TO MIAMI.
59. HOUSING WAS AN IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE. WE PLACED
OUR PEOPLE AND VISITORS IN MANY CHURCHES, BASEMENTS,
SPARE ROOMS AND THIS INSTANT RV PARK IN MANVEL. AT ITS
PEAK WE HAD 19 SITES LOCATED ALONG "RIDDER DRIVE
NORTH".

60. THE SCHOOL WAS OUR HOME FOR TWO MONTHS. WE SET
OUR EDITORIAL STRATEGY IN THE COMPUTER ROOM.
61. ONE END OF THE SCHOOL LIBARY BECAME OUR
CONFERENCE AREA, FINANCE OFFICE, AND LUNCH ROOM.

62. THE OTHER END TURNED INTO OUR PLANNING

DEPARTMENT, AS WE STRUGGLED DAY IN AND OUT TO BECOME
MASTERS OF OUR SITUATION.
63. MANVEL CONTINUED TO HOLD CLASSES. WE SHARED THE
HALLS AND THE CAFETERIA LINE WITH KIDS AND TEACHERS.
THE STUDENTS WROTE US CHEERING AND AFFECTIONATE
LETTERS, WHICH HELPED US KEEP UP OUR SPIRITS.
64. WE RESPONDED IN KIND, GIVING DIFFERENT GRADES A
PAGE IN THE PAPER TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE
EXPERIENCING.
65. IN THE END, MANVEL PUBLIC SCHOOL AND THE GRAND
FORKS HERALD SHARED A SINGLE IDENTITY. HERE'S OUR
FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH, A COPY OF WHICH WE GAVE TO
EVERYONE SHOWN.
66. FROM THIS SCHOOL WE PRODUCED ONE SPECTACULAR
NEWSPAPER AFTER ANOTHER, FEATURING STUNNING
PHOTOGRAPHY. THIS SHOT BECAME THE SIGNATURE IMAGE OF
THE FLOOD. IT SHOWS GROUND ZERO, THE BUILDING WHERE
THE FIRE BROKE OUT.
67. AND THIS IS HOW IT WAS USED, WITH THE CLASSIC HEADLINE OF
MONDAY, APRIL 21.

68. A WEEK LATER, THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE TWO STATES

OPENED.
69. OUR PHOTOGRAPH BECAME THE SYMBOL OF UNITY.
70. ON APRIL 29, A SPECTACULAR RAINBOW OCCURED OVER
DOWNTOWN.
71. IT BECAME A SYMBOL OF HOPE FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. THIS
WAS THE SAME DAY THAT THE GIFT OF THE "ANGEL", MCDONALD
HEIRESS JOAN KROC, WAS ANNOUNCED.
72. SO WHERE ARE WE NOW? WELL, TWO MONTHS AFTER THE FLOOD OUR
TWO HIGH SCHOOLS FINALLY GOT THEIR PROM, HELD AT GRAND
FORKS AIR FORCE BASE. THE BAND "SOUL ASYLUM" PLAYED.
73. THE HERALD LEFT MANVEL AT THE END OF JUNE, 1997, RETURNING TO
GRAND FORKS WHERE THE NEWS WAS HAPPENING. WE MOVED INTO
A VACANT RETAIL STORE. THE ROOF LEAKED AND MOSQUITOES
ATTACKED, BUT IT WAS GOOD TO BE HOME.

74. THE BEST BUILDING TURNED OUT TO BE A DECENT PLACE FOR A NOMADIC
NEWSPAPER. IN THE FRONT WAS LOTS OF OPEN SPACE FOR OFFICES.
IN THE BACK, WHERE THE STORE’S WAREHOUSE WAS, WE ERECTED
A COMMUNITY PRESS AND A MAILROOM, SEEMINGLY OUT OF THIN
AIR.
75. WE HAVE NOW CONSTRUCTED TWO NEW BUILDINGS. THIS IS THE
PRODUCTION PLANT, FOUR MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN. IT WAS
DRY LAND IN 1997.

76. IT HAS AN 11-UNIT PRESS, THREE MORE THAN IN OUR PRESSROOM

DOWNTOWN. IT’S MODERN AND SPACIOUS, ABOUT 40,000 SQUARE
FEET IN SIZE. WE BEGAN PRINTING HERE ON MARCH 17, 1998.
77. DOWNTOWN, WE CONSTRUCTED A CLOCK TOWER ADDITION TO THE 1931
BUILDING WHICH DID NOT BURN. THE TOWER HAS BECOME A
LANDMARK ON THE SKYLINE OF THE CITY’S NEW DOWNTOWN. IT’S
THE HOME FOR OUR EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES. WE MOVED
IN JULY 17, 1998.

78. THE TOWER IS LIT ON ALL FOUR SIDES. ITS GLOW GIVES CONFIDENCE AND
 HOPE TO ALL WHO SEE IT.

79. ON APRIL 14, 1998, THE HERALD RECEIVED NATIONAL

RECOGNITION FOR ITS PERFORMANCE DURING THE FLOOD. WE
WERE AWARDED THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE.
80. OF ALL THE NEWSPAPERS WE PUBLISHED, IT IS THIS ONE THAT
WILL ALWAYS FOCUS OUR ENERGIES. IT IS NOT JUST THAT IT
CARRIED A HEADLINE AND IMAGE THAT BURNED INTO THE
NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS. RATHER IT EXPRESSES A PROMISE
THAT WE BELIEVE IS THE FORCE DRIVING THE MISSION OF THE
GRAND FORKS HERALD, AND INDEED EVERY NEWSPAPER IN THIS
COUNTRY. WE ARE PROUD WE CREATED IT, AND WE ARE
DEDICATED TO LIVING UP TO IT.
_________________________________________________________________

BEFORE I CLOSE, A FEW FINAL COMMENTS.

OUR PARENT COMPANY WAS SUPERB. KNIGHT RIDDER’S SWIFT RESPONSE

HELPED STABILIZE OUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDED TIMELY AID FOR OUR
EMPLOYEES. KNIGHT RIDDER SET UP AN EMPLOYEE RELIEF FUND TO WHICH
IT CONTRIBUTED $250,000, AND WHICH GREW FROM OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
AROUND THE COMPANY TO $325,000. WE WERE ABLE TO HELP 78 EMPLOYEES,
OVER A THIRD OF OUR WORKFORCE, WITH CASH GRANTS AVERAGING $4,000.

WHEN A COMPANY LIKE KNIGHT RIDDER MARSHALS ITS RESOURCES BEHIND

A COMMON GOAL, THE RESULT IS AWESOME.

I AM SOMETIMES ASKED WHEN GRAND FORKS WILL BE BACK TO "NORMAL".

THE EASY ANSWER IS TO SAY, FIVE YEARS, GIVE OR TAKE. THAT’S THE TIME
FRAME ALL THE DISASTER EXPERTS PROJECT. THEY ADD THAT DURING
THOSE YEARS WE SHOULD EXPECT CLASHING PLANS, COMPETING PROJECTS
AND WARRING EMOTIONS.
THEY’VE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT. WE’RE SEEING ALL THE FRUSTRATIONS THAT
DISASTER RECOVERY BRINGS.

BUT THE HARD ANSWER ABOUT WHEN GRAND FORKS WILL BE BACK TO
NORMAL IS, "NEVER".

GRAND FORKS WILL NEVER BE THE KIND OF PLACE IT ONCE WAS. WE WILL
BE A CHANGED COMMUNITY, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.

I FOR ONE AM CERTAIN WE WILL BE A BETTER PLACE.

THE HERALD, BY PUBLISHING THROUGHOUT THE DISASTER AND BY BEING

THE FIRST MAJOR INDUSTRY TO REBUILD DOWNTOWN, IS LEADING OUR
COMMUNITY TO THAT BETTER FUTURE, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME
COVERING ALL THE CONTROVERSY.

IT IS A PROCESS THAT IS EXHAUSTING AND FASCINATING. YET I AM

CONVINCED THAT IT WILL BE THE MOST REWARDING TIME IN THE LIVES
AND CAREERS OF ALL OF US WHO LIVE IN A COMMUNITY—AND WORK AT A
NEWSPAPER—WHERE PEOPLE ACTING TOGETHER TRIUMPHED OVER THE
WORST THAT NATURE COULD DEAL OUT. WHEN THE HISTORY OF GRAND
FORKS IS WRITTEN, THIS SPIRIT WILL MARK A TURNING POINT.

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