Extended Coverage

The Red River Flood, one year later

A year after flood, Grand Forks keeps rebuilding

Bervik's rebuilt house

April 16, 1998
Web posted at: 2:47 a.m. EDT (0647 GMT)

From Correspondent Jeff Flock

GRAND FORKS, North Dakota (CNN) -- A year after floods and fire devastated the city of Grand Forks, the tearing down and building up continues.

At this time last year, Loren Bervik's house was a muddy mess. The high water even claimed the baseball card collection he cherished.

His family lived for a while in a government-supplied trailer that was so small his son couldn't have any friends sleep over. The family had to rip out the mess, jack up the house and rebuild.

A look at last year's flooding, and winning the Pulitzer Prize
Flooding on April 19, 1997 in Grand Forks
	995 K / 26 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie
Fires rage in flooded downtown Grand Forks, April 19, 1997
	689 K / 18 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie

"There were probably five to six times that I was mentally, physically and emotionally shot," says Bervik. "I didn't want to do anything. I wanted to leave."

Jon Bonzer was also one of the many in Grand Forks who were forced to start over. His restaurant was in one of the buildings downtown that burned.

"A lot of people were able to come back and at least had a business that they had to clean up. I had a business I had to rebuild. I lost everything," he says.

Yet today, his restaurant bustles again, in a new location.

About 500 to 600 homes and buildings in the city have either been torn down or are slated for demolition.

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A L S O :

CNN's Jeff Flock reports on Grand Forks' great flood

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To the dismay of some residents, a neighborhood of historic homes along Reeves Drive may have to come down, too, to make way for a dike needed to protect the city from future flood disasters.

Bonzer's restaurant was destroyed by flood and fire a year ago

On the banks of the now quiet Red River, Mayor Pat Owens says that once all the tearing down and building back up is finished, the results will be worth it.

"I really believe that five years from now, we will be better than we were before," she says.

And in some cases, the disaster has bonded people in ways that otherwise might not have been possible. For instance, Bervik's 7-year-old son, Paul, felt sorry when his dad lost his baseball cards. So one day, he got him a present.

"He handed me this little pack of cards, -- 30 cards, the value is probably a dollar, if that. And he says, 'Here, daddy, I got these for you. I know how much you like baseball cards,'" Bervik says.

Related stories:

• Nursing home residents survive flood, but not stress - November 1, 1997
• Midwest floods wash out field of dreams - May 12, 1997
• Flooded computers get a clean bill of health - May 7, 1997
• Grand Forks struggles back to normal life - May 6, 1997
• Grand Forks floodwaters pose health threats - May 1, 1997
• Mystery 'angel' donates $2,000 per flooded family - April 30, 1997

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