At least 400 members of the Church in Grand Forks were among townspeople evacuated due to severe flooding along the Red River the weekend of April 19-20.
Adding to the tragedy was the outbreak of fire, which consumed numerous buildings. The apartment of two missionary sisters in Grand Forks was completely burned and their property destroyed. The Church meetinghouse in Grand Forks was reported flooded, but the extent of the damage was not immediately known."We thought we'd be able to get back," said Sister Shawn Bonifay. She and her companion, Sister Jennifer Shewmaker, were warned in a town meeting a week ago to evacuate their residence, along with other families in the surrounding area.
"I grabbed my sandbagging clothes," she said. "I wasn't even going to take any dresses, but then decided to take a few."
With some emotion, Sister Shewmaker said, "I lost all my pictures from my whole mission. We did everything they told us to do, plugging drains so no sewer water would back into our apartment. We moved everything up to the second floor, thinking all would be safe. No one ever thought about fire."
The blaze destroyed buildings in a four-block area. "We watched our apartment burning on television," Sister Shewmaker said.
The 12 missionaries in Fargo and Grand Forks were evacuated to a U.S. Air Force base and other locations. A trailer-load of Bishops' Storehouse commodities requested by local Church leaders for distribution by the Salvation Army was delivered April 19. The food was immediately distributed to victims.
Early in the week, Church leaders of surrounding stakes were preparing to provide help with clean-up when the waters recede.
Grand Forks 2nd Ward Bishop Carl Johnson, staying with Grand Forks 1st Ward Bishop Craig Whitehead, said most of the 80 displaced ward families have found refuge with family or friends. His ward has 150 families, but several live outside the flood area.
