![By the time the Red slipped back into its banks in late May, the record flood of 1997 had done nearly $2 billion in damage. All told, nearly 1,500 houses in Grand Forks and neighboring East Grand Forks, Minn. were destroyed; the better part of four neighborhoods were ruined and later razed. Eleven buildings in downtown Grand Forks were gutted by fire that broke out after the cities were evacuated. ] BRIAN PETERSON ¥ brian.peterson@startribune.com Grand Forks, ND 03/31/2017](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/SVHKNER44FS3NTBRL7C26YTQ6Q.jpg?&w=1080)
Earlier this month we marked the 25th anniversary of the Red River Flood of 1997, an event that transformed two states and changed the way we think about protecting property, homes and farmland.
When floodwaters breached the dikes on April 18, 1997, homes and businesses throughout East Grand Forks and Grand Forks were destroyed. "Out of a city of close to 9,000 people, the number was eight homes that had no flood damage," says Steve Gander, mayor of East Grand Forks.
With the cities underwater and several buildings in downtown Grand Forks on fire, the catastrophe was almost surreal. The flood displaced more than 50,000 people in the region and drew national attention and a visit from then-President Bill Clinton. Damage was estimated at $3.5 billion.
The 1997 flood also drove people to act. Congress moved swiftly to fund a $409 million levee system. Entire neighborhoods were removed to make room for the levees.
At the headwaters of the Red, 125 miles south of Grand Forks, the city of Breckenridge suffered severe damage in 1997 when temporary dikes failed. A flood diversion channel and levees to protect Breckenridge and neighboring Wahpeton, N.D., were completed in 2005 at a cost of $45 million. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that project has prevented $165 million in flood damage since that time.
That project and others along the Red River have made an enormous difference. Twelve years after the 1997 flood, East Grand Forks saw its fourth-highest flood on record, and it was a completely different experience. Even as waters peaked at 49 feet, residents didn't have to worry about floods reaching their homes.
But flooding in the Red River Basin has not been solved. Since 1997, flooding has occurred in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2020 — and again this year.
The Red River Watershed Management Board (RRWMB) was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1976 to provide a basin-wide perspective focused on flood mitigation and habitat restoration. RRWMB is continually looking for ways to reduce flood damage. They include projects that:
