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97.1539931 by LEON PHILLIPS, Nov. 23, 1997 at 9:14 Eastern
It is winter in North Dakota. Snow covers the ground; the temperature if
15 degrees. For the past two days Gil Furst and I have been driving
through blowing snow with staff of LDR/LSS ND. We joined Bishop Rick Foss
and met with community leaders and pastors - in the Devils Lake area, and
on the Spirit Lake Reservation.
"I had to abandon my farm; the farm my grandfather farmed," one man tells
us. The farm is fiftyfive miles north of Devils Lake, and is under water.
We heard the stories of people whose entire homes had to be moved as the
lake waters rose to their doorsteps. There were others whose homes are now
abandoned to the rising lake waters. It is not an ordinary flood, for the
water will not be gone in a week. Indeed, the lake is still rising, and
the land now under water may be gone for ever. "I am paying taxes on land
that is under twenty feet of water," one farmer told us. He, too, has
abandoned his farm and does not know if he can ever return. The town of
Devils Lake is defended by a dike. At Wallmart, you can see a mark that
shows where the water would be if there were no dike. It is a dramatic-
and fearful- reminder. The store would be under twelve feet of water, as
would most of the town.
We drove to the Spirit Lake reservation over roads that have been raised as
much as fifteen feet to keep ahead of the rising water. We see signs to
the town of Minnewauken. It was once eight miles from Devils Lake. Today
the lake's water is at the edge of town ! "I drove over this bridge last
Spring," Bob Bachen, of LSS and AAL, tells us. "Well," he explains, "It
was a different bridge. The one I drove over is fifteen feet under water
right here."
Frank BlackCloud, reservation emergency management director, takes us
around the reservation, and we meet with Larry Thiele, lay leader at
Dacotach O'Yate Lutheran congregation. We see dozens of homes that have had
to be moved.... fortyone of them so far. We see others being prepared to
be moved. We see homes and vehicles abandoned to the rising lake. The
lake itself is frozen now, its solid waves reaching right up to the road.
We learn that it is only the past few days that the road to town has been
open twentyfour hours a day. Until the lake froze, it was often under
water, and the 13 mile trip to town could sometimes require a 40 mile
journey. Reaching emergency medical care, supeermarkets, human services
has been uncertain for reservation residents all summer and fall.
Unemployment rose as people were unable to reach their jobs.
The Lutheran congregation is a center for winter coats, and for supplies.
Lutheran Disaster Response has been bringing in equipment, warm coats and
boots, and - through the Great Plains Food Bank operated by LSS- food.
Several of the "Christmas Dinners" that will be held for 21,000 people will
be here on the reservation, and a planning committee had just finished
meeting when we arrived.
Lutheran Disaster Response will have a person on site here in the Devils
Lake area, and will also provide an outreach worker/counselor, at the
request of area pastors. LDR/LSS ND staff will continue to work with the
tribal council and the emergency management office of the Spirit Lake
Reservation.
To help with the Christmas project here: call 1-800-987-0061
To contribute: ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
PO Box 71764/Chicago,IL 60694
LEON PHILLIPS 8:37 am Sun, Nov 23, 1997
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response( Division for Church in Society),
Lutheran Disaster Response ( a cooperative ministry of ELCA and LCMS)
Phone: 610-776-8390 FAX: 610-776-8392
e-mail:[log in to unmask] WEBSITE http://www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
