(2 of 2)
Despite President Clinton's pledge last week that the government would pick up 100% of the immediate emergency disaster costs, not the customary 75%, other Grand Forks residents may not be able to rebuild their homes and businesses for years, and thousands could be out of work indefinitely. On the northern edge of town, Harris Peterson, 71, says his grain-processing plant depends on farmers' shipping him product, so it could be a rough year. "But it's the people downtown who are ruined." He adds, parenthetically, that his $250,000 downtown house was destroyed. No flood insurance. His eyes fill as he stands erect and says, "We'll get through this. I'm full-blooded Norwegian."
Whether it is denial, lingering shock or stout prairie faith, such optimism was as relentless as the river, even after a week without running water or plumbing. Residents would call a radio station, ask about a certain block of a specific street and learn that their house was under 8 ft. of water. "Well, alrighty then. Thank you very much."
"It's the way we are," said Owens, who has been working on two hours of sleep a night. "We got out with our lives, and the rest of it we can rebuild if we keep helping each other like we have been." Her 92-year-old father, Willard Guerard, had to be rescued by helicopter from his farm near East Grand Forks. Asked where his daughter, who has gone from virtual anonymity to daily appearances on national television, got her wits and her will, he said, "From me." As a girl, he added, Pat farmed potatoes with her dad, and feeling the earth in your hands prepares you for anything. "The quality of life here is real good," he explained.