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American Morning

Minnesota Experiences Severe Flooding

Aired April 16, 2001 - 11:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Flood waters have nerves on edge in parts of the upper Midwest. Right now, flood warnings are in effect from Northern Iowa to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Now these are scenes that we brought from Wabasha, Minnesota. More than half that -- of the counties in the state have reported some level of flooding. Some of the most serious are in the town of Granite Falls in Central Minnesota. There, about a dozens of homes were evacuated after a dike along the Minnesota River started seeping.

Townspeople, with some National Guard members pitching in, have placed more than 700,000 sandbags in low-lying areas of the town.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we'll get more on the situation in Granite Falls, Minnesota. We have with us on the phone the town's mayor, Dave Smiglewski.

Mr. Mayor, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

DAVE SMIGLEWSKI, MAYOR OF GRANITE FALLS: Good morning.

KAGAN: Can you tell us the latest about the situation in your city?

SMIGLEWSKI: Well, we were -- we've reached a level of stability, and we're very happy about that. The river appears to have crested here. That means, of course, that the water is still very high and very turbulent. As it falls through our town here, it just roars through, and we had a -- we had a real scare yesterday, but we're OK now.

KAGAN: How does this compare to past situations in Granite Falls? Were you one of the towns that was flooded in '97?

SMIGLEWSKI: Yeah. We had a -- '97 was a record flood for us. It was about three feet higher than it is now. Ninety-seven was -- was really a watershed mark for us in more ways than ones, I guess, but...

KAGAN: I bet.

SMIGLEWSKI: This -- this isn't quite as bad, but it's certainly been quite an emergency for our community.

KAGAN: And what was learned in '97, and what kind of precautions did you take then that is helping out now?

SMIGLEWSKI: Well, we learned a whole bunch of things. We got a lot more prepared as far as permanent installations and protection of utilities, particularly. Also, of course, there were some houses removed that were flooded beyond repair.

Pumping -- abilities to pump low-lying inland areas has -- has helped ease the pain quite a bit, so -- and then just being prepared for emergencies. Our town also in the intervening years -- last summer, went through a tornado strike that leveled 70-some homes and damaged another 300.

So our emergency response in our community is something that we've fine-tuned quite a bit.

KAGAN: In terms of floods, though, little did you think that you'd ever have to put those measures into effect so soon. Wasn't -- '97, we were saying, was the worst in 150 years, and here we are just four years later.

SMIGLEWSKI: That's correct. You know, we -- we were able to get our hands on some very big pumps and piping for emergency use. We really figured we would never be using those. Little did we know -- four years later, here we are again, and -- and they're making a big difference, of course, but, boy, who'd have thought.

KAGAN: Yeah. Well -- and you told us you think the river has now crested, but certainly not completely out of danger yet. So what kind of help are you getting and what kind do you still need?

SMIGLEWSKI: Well, we're going to continue to be very vigilant on the levees. A lot of them are constructed very quickly. Some of them just out of sandbags.

The National Guard is going to maintain a presence here. We've got our emergency local folks -- firefighters and public works people -- that are out around the clock and, you know, it's -- the rivers' not going to go down very fast. It's going to go down, you know, inches a day at the best, and it's going to be a long time before we're back below flood stage.

We have to keep watching on things. With all that turbulent water, it's going to keep washing those levees. We know that.

KAGAN: Well, we know this is a very busy time for you, and we're going to let you go so you can go take care of the town and -- and the emergency at hand. That is Dave Smiglewski, the mayor of Granite Falls, Minnesota. Mr. Mayor, thank you for joining us.

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