1997 red river flood?

Question

can someone tell me, why did it happen? and, what were the social environmental and economic impacts of this flood?

Answer 1

The winter of 1996-97 was the worst the entire area has ever experienced. There were eight blizzards that dumped a record of 117 inches of snow in Fargo and 98.6 inches in Grand Forks. The final blizzard, Hannah, was the cruelest of all. The blizzard began with rain, which turned to freezing rain - the ice caused power lines to droop and winds of up to 44 mph leveled them. More than 300,000 people were without electricity - some for over a week. Hannah also provided the last of the precipitation needed in order for the amount of snow melt to exceed that of which the dikes on the Red River could hold back.

One by one areas of the city are taken by water as dikes fail and water surges across the table-top flat topography of the Red River Valley. People flee with what little posessions they may think to grab as mandatory evacuations are ordered almost city-wide.

By noon on Saturday, April 19th, apporximately 50% of Grand Forks and virtually all of East Grand Forks, the town on the Minnesota side of the river, were flooded as the dikes were topped by the still rising river.

On Monday, April 21st, the Red River finally reached its crest at Grand Forks of 54.11 feet - 26 feet above flood stage. At this time 90% of East Grand Forks' 8,700 residents and 75% of Grand Forks' 52,000 residents had been evacuated.

Finally on April 23rd the river began to recede. With this came both joy and sadness. The next day Grand Forks residents were allowed to return to their homes for the first time for a short visit. What they saw when they returned was beyond their beleif...

The nation was watching when this terrible disaster struck, and many donations came in to aid with the flood releif. Joan Kroc, McDonald's heiress donated money so that each household devastated by flood waters would receive $2,000. Volunteers also started pouring in from all over. Northwest Airlines provided free airfare for 500 volunteers to come from Minneapolis to aid in the clean up efforts. In the four months following the flood nearly 20,000 volunteers came to Grand Forks to help out, and this doesn't include the family members or friends that came in just to help the people that they knew.