Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson reports that Governor Jesse Ventura wrapped up his two-day flood tour in East Grand Forks. The governor says he's pleased with how the flood fight is going all across the state. The lower flood crests predicted at most locations on the Red, and the Minnesota rivers, are allowing many communities a break for the Easter weekend.
DAN GUNDERSON: The governor's caravan wended its way past trucks and earthmovers into Sherlock Park. Four years ago, this was a residential area, where homes stood in water up to their roofs. The neighborhood no longer exists. This area will soon become a state park. East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss stood atop a freshly built clay levee with the governor and surveyed the area.
LYNN STAUSS: In 1997, we were back there and sandbagged all of this for the people. So it was-- this is much nicer, seeing these big machines move the earth and take care of the problems.
DAN GUNDERSON: The governor posed for pictures with a heavy equipment operator but declined an invitation to take a turn behind the controls.
JESSE VENTURA: I'm only good with those things knocking things down. And I think, right now, you need to build them up, not knock them down. So, no, I leave that to the experts, those Tonka toy guys.
DAN GUNDERSON: Ventura also checked out a new concrete-and-steel floodwall protecting downtown East Grand Forks before doing a live television interview from the bank of the Red River. The governor says he's proud of the flood-fighting effort by volunteers. And he praised the 500 National Guard troops now deployed around the state. He says he's impressed by how well East Grand Forks has rebuilt since the downtown was destroyed in 1997. And he says the city appears to be well on the way to having permanent flood protection.
JESSE VENTURA: More of that needs to be done throughout the state, especially along the main waterways where the problems can occur so that it doesn't end up just the manual labor of filling sandbags and piling them up because then, as you people well know, when it's all over with, then you got the mess of cleanup.
DAN GUNDERSON: Several communities expect rivers to crest this weekend. But Minnesota Emergency Management Director Kevin Leuer says the overall situation looks much better than it did earlier in the week.
KEVIN LEUER: We're fighting-- flood preparation is now virtually all over the state. We've got 54 counties that we have flood activity going on, out of the 87 in the state now. But the permanent protection that's in place is making it a lot simpler.
People are better prepared than we were before because we've gone through it again and we know what to expect. And so I think the folks are ready. I have a really good comfort level of the outcome. The weather forecast is cooperating. And things are really looking good now.
DAN GUNDERSON: Leuer says it's too early to know if the state will qualify for a federal disaster declaration. He says the focus now is on protecting communities. A tally of damage will begin after the water goes down. East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss says it's important to have the governor and other state officials see the results of state aid the city has received since 1997.
LYNN STAUSS: We need a lot of funding from the state of Minnesota. And they're seeing that their money isn't being wasted, that the prevention that we've done since '97 has been good because you don't see all the sandbagging that we saw back then. And the dirt is being moved by earth equipment. And the governor is very pleased with what we're seeing today.
DAN GUNDERSON: East Grand Forks will likely need additional state assistance to help pay its share of a multimillion-dollar flood protection project expected to start this year in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. The region will get more national attention on Monday, when FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh is scheduled to visit flooded areas. Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio, Moorhead.
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