CONTACT:
Karen Turni Bazile, Executive Assistant to the President
St. Bernard Parish
504-278-4280 or 504-874-0980
St. Bernard
officials view North Dakota recovery
Area revives itself after a major flood
A delegation of St. Bernard Parish officials has
just returned from touring the Grand Forks, N.D., area to gather
ideas for flood recovery.
Grand Forks and neighboring East Grand Forks, Minn., were
flooded in 1997 by the swollen Red River of the North, leaving
entire communities submerged just as Hurricane Katrina flooded
St. Bernard Parish wall to wall in 2005.
St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro said touring flooded
areas that are rejuvenated in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks
was inspiring.
“There's something very powerful about visiting a community that
has made it through a recovery," Taffaro said. "That, to me, is
encouraging."
In April of 1997, Grand Forks suffered from massive flooding
when the Red River crested at 54.37 feet. About 90 percent of
the city’s 52,500 residents in Grand Forks evacuated. By the
time the flooding was over, about 75 percent of Grand Forks had
flooded, leaving 83 percent of the homes flooded, 62 percent of
the commercial units flooded and 72 percent of the public
schools significantly damaged. During the flooding, 11 historic
buildings and 60 apartments burned.
A decade later, Grand Forks now has a spacious, 2,200-acre
greenway park that was a planned mitigation area and lines the
river in flood-prone areas beginning in the downtown and
extending to residential areas. About 800 properties were bought
through the city’s voluntary buyout program, including about 350
adjacent to the dike. About 42 commercial properties were
acquired using a combination of federal, state and local grants
as well.
FEMA, the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Ford Foundation
arranged the visit as a way for St. Bernard officials to collect
ideas by talking with leaders who have successfully made their
way to recovery after a disaster. Taffaro said the Ford
Foundation financed the trip.
St. Bernard Parish Councilwoman Polly Boudreaux, who was on the
trip, said the visit was "very educational and extremely
inspiring.”
Besides Taffaro and Boudreaux, several other officials attended:
Parish Council Vice Chairman Frank Auderer, Public Works
Director Linda Daly, Community Development Director Jerry
Graves, Planning Commissioners Deborah Keller and Earl Dauterive,
Presidential Executive Assistant William McCartney and St.
Bernard Citizens Recovery Committee Member Charles Ponstein.
