Jun 13, 2008 - 04:05:09 CDT
GRAND FORKS - Leaders of a Louisiana community devastated by Hurricane Katrina have come to North Dakota to get a look at recovery.About a dozen people from St. Bernard Parish, a city near New Orleans, are touring areas of Grand Forks and neighboring East Grand Forks, Minn., that were wiped out by the 1997 Red River flood. Leaders of the cities held an introductory meeting Thursday morning, and it didn't take long to find common ground.
"Disaster can occur anywhere, and certainly to understand how folks have gone through it and survived and recovered ... is of great interest to us," Boudreaux said. "That's what makes us kindred."
St. Bernard Parish was a city of 65,000 people before the 2005 hurricaine damaged or destroyed nearly 27,000 homes and 3,000 businesses and killed 128 people. Sixteen people still are missing.
About 35,000 residents have returned, officials said. Boudreaux said only three homes are inhabited on her block.
Parish president Craig Taffaro Jr. said the city is "on the cusp of recovery mode." He said leaders are eager to learn about Grand Forks' promotion, development - and sense of optimism.
"One of the critical flaws is that we didn't get out the consistent message that this (disaster) was going to be overturned," Taffaro said. "There was shock and awe."
Eliot Glassheim, a state legislator and member of the Grand Forks City Council, walked into the meeting wearing a T-shirt that said, "No food, no water, no power, no problem." The shirt was printed shortly after the flood. He held up several other T-shirts he said provided moments of relief in a tense situation.
Taffaro narrated a slide show of the Katrina disaster, showing homes flooded to rooftops, residents being evacuated in boats, and anguish on the faces of those who were misplaced. Boudreaux fought back tears while watching a video she has seen several times.
"I still can't do it without crying," she said.
Kevin Dean, a spokesman for the city of Grand Forks, said the video was difficult for both sides to watch.
"I felt a lump in my throat even as I watched it. I turned and looked at a few faces in the room, too, and I saw some eyes glistening a little bit," he said. "It's hard to see that and it's hard to see other people go through what we went through."
The group toured Grand Forks-area facilities that were built after the flood, including an elementary school, hockey arena, football arena, golf course and several new businesses.
The first stop was a river greenway area on the south side of Grand Forks known as Lincoln Drive Park, where homes have been replaced with trails, nature preserve, picnic sites, camping areas, a disc golf course and a dog park.
Several members of the group took pictures of a plaque showing the history of the neighborhood and flooding.
The visitors will spend the next two days discussing business revival and other recovery issues. Boudreaux said she's particularly interested about mental health effects following the disaster.
"Our recovery has not been as swift as their recovery was," she said. "For us, it's all still pretty fresh."
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