The Security Building on fire.
Photo: David Winslow (UND)
Sandbagging as downtown burns.
Photo: Toby Baker (UND)
The Security Building after the fire.
Photo: Toby Baker (UND)
The same block, July 1997.
We then went to Red River School. When I got there, I met Kathy K., a social worker who had worked with Mother. She said we should go directly to the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
So, the bus driver took me and Mother to the base. When we got there we went to what we called the 3 bay hanger. It was a monsterous room with free telephones to call long distance. So I called Rosalie to let her know where we were. Then I went to another part of the room to get dinner for Mother and myself. When I got back to her she was suffering upper abdominal pains. So I got a medic. And they checked her and sent her to the base hospital.
There they checked her over for 4 hours and then sent her to Carl Ben Eileson School. That was a mid-hospital. So she spent the afternoon resting. And about 4:30 or 5:00 P.M. I went with some kids to see their dogs. And I wondered what the awful black cloud over Grand Forks happened to be coming from.
Well at newstime they showed pictures of the Security Building. It was over 100 years old. And it showed the wall collapsing into a street full of water. There was a woman watching the T.V. and she was from London where she lived during the blitz of WWII. But this really upset her.
So Grand Forks took a bad hit. Then we met another lady that mother knew. She lived right near United Lutheran Church, and her name was Mrs. B. So we visited with her. And Grandma Mae met someone she knew when she moved to Grand Forks as a youngster. He would follow Grandma Mae and sing "I love you truly" and he proposed to Grandma Mae. Then there was another man with "Papa Hemingway wiskers". He would talk with Grandma Mae.
Sunday was a difficult day but Monday was a little better. But it was difficult being there without any bathing facilities. By Tuesday it was getting a little ripe there. But Rosalie called and said they were coming to get us. Oh! earlier in the day President Clinton came. So I got to see the helicopter, but I only saw the President on T.V. Everyone had their eyes glued to the set.
Top | Next Page | Previous Page | Grand Forks | East Grand Forks | Home
Click on photos for larger version.
The Security Building on fire. Photo: David Winslow (UND) |
Sandbagging as downtown burns. Photo: Toby Baker (UND) |
The Security Building after the fire. Photo: Toby Baker (UND) |
The same block, July 1997. Photo: Alan Draves |