Crop land flooded (24,420 acres or 212 percent total area flooded). Total land flooded (179 square miles) Loss of livestock and fowl. _farms__ _acres__ Livestock and fowl sold because of the flood__. Allocated from Federal funds for repairing township culverts and bridges-- Red Cross: Rescue and transportation_ Food and clothing and other maintenance. 56, 300.00 56,000.00 1, 812, 273. 02 160 1,325 5, 000 407 114, 560 900 726 $24, 300.00 Home repairs_. Purchase of furniture_ Medical care Farm supplies, hay, and feed_. Occupational supplies Administrative expenses Total cost_ State allocation for flood relief purposes, subsistence only based on need__. Total tax levy 1948 collectible in 1949_ Total levy for flood area 1948 collectible in 1949_ $3,170. 90 2, 648. 01 20, 298.59 6, 154, 58 89. 18 3, 667.51 440.95 359.88 36, 829. 60 6, 000. 00 423, 824. 93 224, 695. 10 206, 091. 55 Submitted by Aitkin County Disaster Committee. Mr. Vernon Quaintance and Mr. Vernon Butler acting in an advisory capacity. Compiled by L. N. Haedt, Secretary. Mr. QUAINTANCE. I would like to conclude by saying this. It is very important that help be forthcoming soon, immediately. Our situation, as these telegrams will convey to your committee, is disastrous. Repetition of floods has become monotonous, and no funds are available from local interests to do any more work. We have exhausted or will have exhausted by the end of this next week our local funds, just in temporary repairs. I believe while I am here I will also file for the purpose of your committee's record a copy of occurrences of floods. This copy is taken from the United States Army engineers records given to me from their office in St. Paul. It gives peaks and the duration of the peaks. Senator LANGER. It will be included in the record. Mr. QUAINTANCE. I know that your committee is going to ask when this thing comes to a hearing before the full committee, to what extent our local or political subdivisions can participate in helping themselves. Gentlemen, we would like to be able to say we will do everything we can, and that is what we are going to do, but we have very little money. Our county is unique in this respect. With these floods occurring about eight times in the last 11 years, we have lost 21 percent plus of our population, and we are going to continue to lose more. We have people today who live there on farms that are considered to be some of the best agricultural land in the county, who are just dubious as to whether it would be advisable to move back into their homes. The least we think you folks can do to help us in keeping ourselves intact is to come to our assistance on roads, culverts, bridges, and the like, so that we can at least afford them a way to get to their farms and to think seriously about rehabilitation. Our county is different. Under instructions from my people at home, I do have to say this. We are looking and will look for any assistance we might get in aid and rehabilitation. They have exhausted what information they can get from the Farmers Home Administration and in finding loans that are available where there are many strings attached and red tape, which makes them wonder whether or not they are doing the most suitable thing. I think along the lines that Senator Humphrey talked about of long-term loans with no interest payments for the first year is what we are going to need, and I ask that that be incorporated in the bill to further emphasize the emergency of this flood in this past year. Thank you. Senator LANGER. You are very welcome indeed. These pictures will be kept in the files of the committee. Mr. Byron Rockwood of Grand Forks, N. Dak. STATEMENT OF BYRON J. ROCKWOOD, CITY MANAGER, GRAND FORKS, N. DAK. Mr. ROCKWOOD. Mr. Chairman, my name is Byron J. Rockwood, and I am city manager of the city of Grand Forks, N. Dak. By profession, I am a graduate civil engineer. I represent the city of Grand Forks at this hearing under authority of the mayor and city council of that municipality. Grand Forks is located on the Red River of the North, 144 miles south of the Canadian boundary, and is the second-largest city in North Dakota, having a population in excess of 26,000. Immediately across the river to the east is East Grand Forks, Minn., with a population of approximately 5,000. In our city are located the University of North Dakota with an enrollment of 3,000, a large flour mill and terminal grain elevator, packing plants, and important division points of both the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific Railroads. It is a commercial and distribution point for large agricultural areas, both in North Dakota and Minnesota. The economy of Grand Forks is definitely tied to the economy of the communities whose representatives you have just heard. I fully concur in those statements. This year, as well as 2 and 3 years ago, the city and surrounding area experienced very damaging floods. During the past 68 years, 20 floods have occurred, of which 13 have been high enough to have caused extensive damage to the city. Particularly damaging were the floods of 1947, 1948, and 1950. Up to that time the 1947 flood was the worst since 1920, and the 1948 flood reached a flood stage of 41.6, which was higher than any flood since 1897. The flood stage in 1950 was 45.70, which is to be compared with the highest flood on record of 50.2. Since the flood stage for the Red River at Grand Forks is 28 feet, this means that in some areas the water reached a depth of about 15 feet. I have with me six flood pictures taken in 1950 in the Grand Forks area which I would like to show your committee. These portray the flooded conditions shown more dramatically than I can describe them. Senator LANGER. They will be filed. Mr. ROCKWOOD. Over 175 homes suffered damages, and many commercial establishments were forced to take steps to protect themselves from loss. I don't believe it necessary to point out to this committee the inconvenience and suffering of persons displaced in these flooded areas. The effect on business operations of the community and the morale of the people are also very damaging. The city suffered known damages of $50,000 to $60,000 to its public facilities. May I respectfully request and urge this committee to approve the proposed legislation now being considered. Thank you. Senator LANGER. Thank you very much. Mr. Earl Enright, mayor of East Grand Forks, Minn. Nice to see you again. STATEMENT OF EARL L. ENRIGHT, MAYOR OF EAST GRAND FORKS, MINN. Mr. ENRIGHT. Mr. Chairman, I am Earl L. Enright, and I am mayor of the city of East Grand Forks, Minn., located at the junction of the Red Lake River and the Red River of the North. My appearance here today is for the purpose of supporting S. 2415, to authorize Federal assistance to States and local governments in major disasters, sponsored by Senator Cordon and many other Senators, including Senators Thye and Humphrey of Minnesota and Langer and Young of North Dakota. During the past 6 years we have experienced five damaging floods in the Red River of the North where I live. Of these the flooding this year was by far the most damaging to East Grand Forks in Minnesota, and Grand Forks in North Dakota. I concur in what has already been said and wish to add some factual statements descriptive of the flood conditions in my city this year. As has already been stated, the flow of the river is to the north, and in the spring break-up the ice and snow in the northern reaches still held when the water began piling up from the south. Rain at this point added to the heavy snow runoff, and these with other contributing factors created the worst flood conditions in many years. The flood stage in East Grand Forks is 28 feet on the river gage. In 1950, the reading stood at 38 feet on April 17, 43.20 on April 26, and 45.79 on May 12, which is the highest since 1897 when the reading was 50.2. The flood level began receding on May 26, which made a flood period of 39 days. This year's flood inundated more than 50 percent of the city, and had a depth of more than 15 feet in the north residential district and about 1 foot in the business area. Another factor of the 1950 flood is that the river receded 8 feet from its first crest, and then immediately rose 10 feet to a second and higher crest-the second crest causing a duplication of damages. The known and estimated damages to public property in East Grand Forks from the flood this year are as follows: Streets, culverts, and crossings__ Municipal light and water systems, city park and swimming pool__ $24, 185 35, 510 41, 860 101, 555 Total In order to emphasize the magnitude of this disaster, I wish to add that 325 homes, 1 church, and 30 commercial buildings were damaged in excess of half a million dollars. In our community of only 5,000 people, this indicates that 50 percent of the families, residential units, and business establishments were affected. It is my earnest hope that your committee will favorably report this bill. Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity of being heard. I would like to file these pictures. Senator LANGER. Mr. Joe Seidel, county engineer, Thief River Falls, Minn. STATEMENT OF JOSEPH SEIDEL, COUNTY ENGINEER, THIEF RIVER FALLS, MINN. Mr. SEIDEL. Mr. Chairman, my name is Joseph Seidel, county engineer, Pennington County, Minn. I am here to testify in favor of the Senate bill for the relief of flood damages in the valley. The county is one of the counties located in the basin of the lake, and is situated about 75 miles northeast of Grand Forks. The flood damage we have had this spring was caused by things which have not been brought out so far. According to my estimation, it was a combination of natural factors that caused the flood. It was the heavy snowfall we had last winter, which we have almost every year, but the quick thaw contributed. There were about 3 or 4 days, April 20 to 25, where the snow thawed out, and this was followed by heavy rain about a week later, of about 5 inches. That left the ground frozen underneath and the water was on top. There was no absorption, and all the water was forced down as runoff, and that eventually ran over the roads and caused those washouts that we have had in those counties. Now there was not any particular location on the roads that was washed out. You could find washouts even on the high spots of the roads which were caused because the lower spots were still blocked with snow while the water was running down to the river and to outlets. Now we have in Pennington County a report, which I have with me, on the estimate for county, township, and city damages, and the total of damages caused directly by washouts is $88,879.50. Now, in addition to this washout, we have lost a lot of gravel from the roads which could be attributed directly to these unusual conditions, and that was about 50 percent on our roads that I estimate that was lost. To replace this gravel it would cost about $123,000. Now, then, as to the work done up to date; I started working on this about May 20, and I have a dragline and about 15 trucks going steadily, or did have until about July 9, and the county has spent about $18,000 just to fill these emergency washouts so the people can get over these roads to town. Now, this work has not been completed because our loss is much greater, but we can get over when the road is dry; but, if the road is wet, well then you just cannot go. You slide all over the road, and in other places there are big holes that have not been taken care of, and this work has been done on the basis of hourly rates because that was the only way that we could get this done right away. We did not have time to advertise for bids. I did have the board advertise for bids on hourly rates after we got started working, and we got the bids in later. Now, I figured this would be too expensive a proposition to finish all the work; so we have advertised for an additional regraveling job in the amount of about $20,000, which is coming up at the next board meeting, and I also have ordered, as the engineer for repair of those bridges that have been washed out, about $7,000 worth of bridge material. Now, I notice that there was a question brought up in here about an improvement resulting from restoration of these bridges. I, as an engineer of bridges, have repaired those that have been washed |