Sodden Fargo-Moorhead evacuees have places to rest

MOORHEAD, MINN. - The Red Cross has set up five area shelters for those who might be chased out of their homes by floodwaters.

As the number of homes evacuated continued to grow Friday, the Red Cross reported it had taken in 11 people at one of its Fargo shelters and 29 at the one in Moorhead.

"The need hasn't been as large as we expected," Red Cross spokeswoman Courtney Johnson said, standing inside the gym at Moorhead Senior High School, where rows of cots remain stacked against a wall. "We're definitely prepared."

The Moorhead shelter can take 500 people. The organization also has two shelters in Fargo, one in Bismarck and another in Grand Forks.

Johnson said about 300 Red Cross volunteers from all over the country are in the Red River Valley area.

Jessie Swanson was one of many people forced to leave Oakport Township on Friday morning. Water started flowing into her basement through a window and soon it was 2 1/2 feet deep on the floor.

"I lost everything down there," she said.

"We were told to leave our home. I'm a widow, so now it's Penny and me," she said, glancing at the pudgy dog sitting at her side.

But she was turned away because the Red Cross doesn't allow pets. "I would stay ,but they won't let her stay. So now I'm going to get a motel," Swanson said.

She carried a sleeping bag and a suitcase, stuffed with clothes, dog food, and medication for her and Penny.

A flood shelter for pets has been set up by the Fargo-Moorhead Humane Society. The shelter, which is at the Schollander Pavilion at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds, wasn't an option for Swanson because she didn't want to leave Penny there alone.

The last place Randi Bernard expected to be Friday morning was a shelter. But there she was, camped out on a couple of cots inside Moorhead Senior High School with her 8-year-old daughter, Daylene.

They wanted to be close to her husband, who works at the high school as a custodian. He was planning to join the family at the end of his shift. The Bernards live in south Moorhead, about a block and a half from the Red River.

Randi Bernard said as soon as she heard the "code red" evacuation call for her neighborhood, she packed and left. "Now it's just a waiting game," she said.

She and Daylene arrived at the high school about 7:30 a.m. and spent the morning watching TV reports about the flood and reading the newspaper. Daylene sat on her cot, propped up by her stuffed animals. She was busy coloring.

Before leaving home, the Bernards moved their valuables -- family photos, a telescope and some golf clubs -- from the basement to the third floor of their duplex.

"We'll probably be here at least another week," Randi Bernard said.