No rest for flood cities

Press, 26 April 1979, Page 8

No rest for flood cities

NZPA Grand Forks (N. Dakota) Their bodies drained from days of slinging sandbags, their spirits sodden by cold, dirty water, residents along the Red River have been told that their ordeal is far from over. The National Weather Service revised its crest forecast upward by 15.2 cm and said the high mark would not come until Thursday (tomorrow NZ time), a week after the flooding began in Grand Forks, a city of 54,000 residents, and its sister city

across the Red, East Grand Forks, Minnesota, population 8400. More than 270 homes have been flooded, and officials estimate 1400 people have left their homes. The Mayor of Grand Forks (Mr C. P- O’Neill) ordered the evacuation of a 10-block area alongside the river. He feared water pressure could blow a hole in a clay dike built on a city street which held back 2.7 m of water in the Riverside Park neighbourhood. The city planned to shut off gas, electricity, and

water to the threatened section, where homes are valued at $40,000 to SIOO,OOO.

There had been signs of hope in the flood-fighting headquarters yesterday, when the river appeared to crest at 14.9 m. The revised forecast was for 15m. Flood stage is 8.5 m. To the south, life began to return to normal in Columbia, Mississippi, as the Pearl River continued to recede. But about 4000 people, nearly half the population of Columbia, were still homeless.