Standing behind the earthen dikes protecting Ada, Minn., residents hoped the swelling Wild Rice River wouldn't ruin their city of 1,600.
The river crested, fell and crested again as the water kept coming, testing last-minute efforts to keep the city dry in June 2002.
Rain runoff from that year's thunderstorms brought more water through Ada than in 1997, when floodwaters swamped the hospital and school while forcing the city's residents to evacuate.
Mayor Jim Ellefson said flood projects - partially paid for with state and federal mitigation grants - between the historic weather events saved Ada the second time around.
North Dakota and Minnesota, both with 17 presidential disaster declarations since 1993, ask for hazard mitigation grants as part of every disaster request.
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"We're not going to control the weather," but mitigating future losses and disaster effects can greatly reduce the impact brought on by severe storms and weather, said Kris Eide, director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety,
Her department's Web site describes mitigation as the ongoing effort to prevent or lessen the impact disasters have on people and property.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which authorizes payments after disaster declarations, has allocated $85.6 million to North Dakota and $78.4 million to Minnesota since 1993.
FEMA funds were used to purchase nearly 1,150 homes within the floodplain in Grand Forks and Cass counties after the 1997 flood along the Red River and its tributaries.
Other flood prevention measures, like dikes and diversion channels, were built to safeguard homes against frequent floods of the region's rivers. Rural counties often use the money to install larger culverts and rebuild roads washed out by overland flooding.
In North Dakota's LaMoure County, included in the state's first disaster declaration last year, 4 inches of rain June 7 caused overland flooding, which swept over many county roads. Thirty of the county's 32 townships tallied water damage from rain storms during the summer.
"It's absolutely a necessity that if there is FEMA money that it go to these townships," said Rick Ballinger, the county's director of emergency services. "We couldn't live without them (the grants). The townships are very limited on their resources."
Mitigation grants also provided funding to buy out properties in Edgeley, N.D., where a wall of water from the June downpour damaged at least 20 homes in the town of 650.
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In Ada, Ellefson said the city could do little to save itself during the 1997 flood.
"I think our community was the first to flood, and it alerted other cities to the amount of water and seriousness of it," he said.
Leaders learned lessons and devoted funds, in addition to FEMA grants, to protect the city's borders. "After the '97 flood, it was up to our community to act to protect ourselves," Ellefson said.
Ada spent nearly $500,000 from its coffers for flood protection, including half of that amount to build up its levees. Federal and state funds helped build a series of valves and pumps to keep the city dry in the future.
"In 2002, we were able to keep the water out of town," he said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Steven P. Wagner at (701) 241-5542
