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Floods Destroyed Buildings, But Not Roseau's Spirit
By Bob Smietana
ROSEAU, MN (July 5, 2002) - In the biblical story of Noah, it took 40 days and 40
nights to flood the entire world. In Roseau, it only took three days.
From June 8 to 11, twelve inches of rain fell, causing the Roseau River to
overflow. The flood damaged some 500 homes and caused more than $350
million in damage in this town of 2,700 people. The accompanying photo
shows a baseball field surrounded by flood waters, the photo courtesy of
the local Roseau Times-Region newspaper.
By some estimates, says Joe Elick, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant
Church of Roseau, it will take years for the town to recover. "It's a slow
process," says Elick. "They have told us that it takes three to five years
to recover. We are just stepping into it."
Elick and his wife have been living with friends from their church for the
past few weeks as the flood left five and a half feet of water in their
basement. And they were lucky. Many of their neighbors had water all the
way into the first floors of their homes, causing the buildings to be
condemned.
"Almost every home has piles of debris from their basements sitting out by
the curb waiting to be removed," says Gayle Gustafson, a member of Bethel
Mission Covenant Church, located just outside Roseau. "It is very dusty in
town from all the dirt and mud that had to be removed."
An estimated 500 homes in town were damaged by water. Many residents are
living with friends or in trailers brought in by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). "The trailers are rolling into town 24 hours a
day," says Elick.
About 80 of the 140 businesses in Roseau, many of which were located on the
town's Main Street, were closed due to the flooding, according to the
Grand Forks Herald. Helgeson Funeral Parlor Home, owned by members
of the Evangelical Covenant Church, was one of the business buildings that
was condemned. Only two of the businesses on Main Street have reopened,
says Elick.
Gustafson says that many businesses in town cannot afford to start over if
they do not receive federal grants. She hopes that Gov. Jesse Ventura will
be able to convince the state legislature to fund grants to help those
business recover. In 1997, when similar floods hit East Grand Forks,
Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, those cities both received grants
to help them rebuild. Grand Fork got around $170 million and East Grand
Forks received $21million, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
"The whole downtown area of Roseau is like a ghost town," Gustafson said.
"Most of the businesses are either operating at a different location or
aren't in business at all for the time being. I really don't know who will
totally quit their businesses. It all depends on what type of aid our area
will receive."
The Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
have all brought volunteers to the community to help with the clean up. The
Red Cross is preparing three meals a day for residents who have been forced
from their homes. There is even a mobile bank set up in the parking lot
behind Citizen's State Bank. "It looks like a trailer," Gustafson said,
"but it serves the purpose. One side has a drive-up window and the other
side is the lobby."
Help has come from surprising places. When three 10-year-old girls from
Grand Forks - Callie Ronkowski, Mackenzie Kuchera and Jenna Corbett - heard
about the flooding, they set up a Kool-Aid stand to raise money for people
in Roseau. They raised $1,143.96, which they presented to the mayor of
Roseau.
Gustafson says since other towns have been able to come back from
devastating floods, she believes that Roseau likewise can recover. "I guess
all we can do right now is pray that our small community will get the aid
that is so badly needed," she says. "Grand Forks got through this five
years ago and hopefully so will Roseau."
(Editor's note: Roseau played host to the spring annual meeting of
the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Additional
follow-up information and photos of the devastation and clean up effort
will appear in the August issue of The Covenant Companion.)
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
