The Red River of the North:
the flood of 1997
downtown Grand Forks, ND - after the flood and fire
Note: The photos on this page and other pages on this site are courtesy of the Grand Forks Herald
Introduction:

The Red River of the North forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota.  In this activity, students will analyze the 500-year flood that took place in 1997 on the Red River of the North, focusing on the destruction that took place in the communities of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

Students will answer the following questions:

Student Activities and Links Page
Exploration:
The burned remains of the Security Building - downtown Grand ForksThe image to the left is not from a war... at least not a war fought by human beings against human beings.  It is rather from a war fought against Nature; against snow, ice, flood and fire.  Sometimes, the war is lost.

The web links below can be used as a way to introduce the activities that follow.  Students should browse these links to give them an overview of the Red River Valley and the flood.  After viewing them, students should know the geographic location of the Red River Valley (be able to find it on a map), have read the flood facts, and have a general idea of the timeline of the flood, and how it affected the people living in the flood zones. Students should complete the exploratory activity that follows; then work on each of the four activities to give them an idea of the size, speed, and ferocity of such a flood, and how to prepare for and clean up after a flood.

1) General Information on Flooding in the Red River Basin - From Fargo flood page
2) Red River Flood Facts
3) These 31 days ... a remembrance
4) The Night Two Cities Fell Apart
5) Grand Forks Herald's Flood Pages:
 
Main page April 17 April 18
April 19 April 20 April 21
April 22 April 23 April 24
April 25 April 26 April 27
Exploratory Activity - students should use the above links to help them search for the answers for each question
Answer Key


Activities:
1) Students will use the following links and images to analyze the precipitation and weather of the Winter of 1996-97.  They can use this data to form opinions about the contributing factors to the flood; both the weather conditions that winter, and the geography of the Red River Valley.
 
1) The Flood of the Century - Michigan Tech 5) 1996-97 Winter Months recapped
2) The blizzards hit and hit and hit... - Grand Forks Herald 6) Normal Weather Conditions for Grand Forks
3) Winter's Last Blast: Hannah - Grand Forks Herald 7) Four conditions that make the Valley prone to flooding
4) 1997 Blizzard - Hannah 8) Torrents on a Tabletop - Grand Forks Herald
Student Worksheet - the causes of the flood
Answer key

2) Students will then analyze the river flow data from March - June 1997 and answer the questions found by the data table
Table and Student Worksheet - the amount of water from the flood
Answer Key
Student Worksheet - short statistics exercise based on the Red River's flow
Answer Key
 		 Street Signs in East Grand Forks, MN
3) Also, students will examine photos and satellite images of the flood to see the areas the flood affected.
graph showing water discharge
Red River Level Info
Satellite views of the flood
Pictures of the flood
 

Lincoln Drive near the Red River in Grand ForksIn the activity below, students can calculate the "size" of the flood (using NIH Image) as it moved through the Red River Valley.
Each image used in this activity will have to be converted to TIFF or PICT format by Graphic Converter, GIF Converter, Paint Shop Pro, or similar software.  All software can be found in NMP's tools and download page.  The image used to guide the students through the activity is the April 21st satellite photo.  The other images that can be used in this activity are:
 

April 21 April 22 April 25 April 27 May 1

Student Worksheet - the size of the flooded area
 

4) Lastly students will study how to properly prepare for and clean up after a flood. The following links may prove useful in their search.
 
1) FEMA's flood page
2) Salvaging damaged clothing - University of Nebraska
3) How to cut damages from floods
4) Flood Preparation Checklist
5) After a Flood - American Red Cross
6) Flood Preparation - NDSU
7) Flood Cleanup Information - Iowa State
8) Flood Cleanup Info - North Dakota Dept. of Health
 		 Plywood dike around Drayton, ND

Student Activity - cleaning up after the flood
Answer key

Further Exploration and Extension Ideas:

Great aerial images of the flood from Ag Imaging
Grand Forks after the 1997 Flood
A photo collage - from North Dakota League of Cities
The Story of the Flood - a first hand account
1997 Red River Valley Basin Flood Page
USA Today article and information about the flood.
A disaster's deep scars  - USA Today article written two years after the flood.