Dakota Datebook

Floods

by Merry Helm

April 20, 2020 — It was on this day in 1997 that Grand Forks was dealing with the immediate aftermath of their dikes breaking, unleashing one of the most worst floods in state history.

Three days earlier, the Red River had crested in Fargo at 39.5 feet, surpassing the 1897 record. When those waters reached Grand Forks, nothing could hold them back, and nearly half of Grand Forks’…