Dakota, Mother Nature whipped up the perfect recipe for a weather disaster. More than twice the usual snowfall piled up in those states this winter. Then, two weeks ago, surprisingly warm temperatures melted snowdrifts, and the meltdown ran off into rivers. Last week a brutal blizzard and a record-breaking cold snap blew through.
The assault left ice jams on North Dakota's swollen Red River that drove the water more than 20 feet above flood levels. The land is flat, and the flooding was expected to spread over thousands of square miles. At least eight people died.
"I've lived in this area all my life, so I know what a flood is," said Ruby Zvirovski, of Harwood, North Dakota. "But I've never seen anything like this."
President Bill Clinton declared North and South Dakota and western Minnesota disaster areas, and the worst may be ahead. When the ice melts, the river could rise again.
| |
April 18, 1997 Vol.2 No.25
|
