[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  REMEMBERING THE 1997 WATERTOWN FLOOD

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity 
today to recognize the one year anniversary of one of the worst natural 
disasters to hit Watertown, South Dakota, and the amazing fact that, 
only one year later, Watertown continues to grow and prosper.
  Referred to by South Dakotans simply as ``the flood,'' the events 
surrounding April 5 and 6, 1997, had the potential to cripple one of 
the state's fastest growing cities. Instead, battling rising waters and 
a late season snowstorm, the residents of Watertown, South Dakota, 
overcame adversity and forged a true community, defined by selfless 
acts of caring, cooperation, and good will.
  Few South Dakotans will forget the winter and spring preceding the 
April floods. Snowdrifts as high as buildings, roads with only one lane 
cleared, homes without heat for days, hundreds of thousands of dead 
livestock, and schools closed for a week at a time were commonplace. As 
if surviving the severe winter cold was not challenge enough, residents 
of Watertown could hardly imagine the extent of damage Mother Nature 
had yet to inflict with a 500-year flood.
  Watertown residents could sense the impending flood. The first snow 
of the season fell in October, and six consecutive months of record-
breaking snowfall covered ground that was already saturated from years 
of unusually wet winters. As the first warm days of spring slowly 
melted layers of the snowpack, Watertown residents began planning for 
flooding. Sandbags and earthen berms ringed Lake Kampeska and the Big 
Sioux River. However, despite careful planning, on April 5, an 
unexpected blizzard hit the state, devastating the area. Everything 
froze, creating further concerns about what was going to happen once 
the water began flowing again.
  The unusual weather mix caused water levels to surge in a few hours. 
Record levels on the Big Sioux River and Lake Kampeska forced over 
5,000 residents of Watertown, or one-fourth the city's population, to 
evacuate their homes. Over one-third of the city was without sewer and 
water for three weeks. The headline of the Watertown Public Opinion on 
April 6 read ``Watertown in Peril,'' and I will never forget the image 
of homeowners and neighbors, shrouded in a late-season snow storm, 
sandbagging against the rising waters of the Big Sioux River and Lake 
Kampeska.
  A number of individuals and organizations in Watertown are 
responsible for the amazing fact that, despite causing millions of 
dollars of damage to property, the 1997 flood failed to claim any 
lives. The work of Mayor Brenda Barger and other community leaders held 
Watertown together with their strength and direction. The city's ad-hoc 
crisis center brought together local and county officials, volunteer 
agencies including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Lutheran Social 
Services, and others, to brainstorm and compile ``resource lists'' of 
expected needs including equipment, people, and funds.
  Local volunteers, students, prisoners, and National Guard personnel 
were recruited to first fight the rising waters with sandbags and then 
help clean-up as the waters receded. In the following days, over 750 
port-a-potties were deployed on the lawns of those families who could 
return to their homes. Water trucks were brought in to provide people 
with a fresh water supply, and repairs to the damaged water treatment 
plant were completed ahead of schedule.
  While those of us from South Dakota will never forget the destruction 
wrought by ``the flood,'' I was heartened to witness first-hand and 
hear accounts of individuals coming together in Watertown to protect 
homes, farms, and lives from rising flood waters.
  Mr. President, April 6 marks the one year anniversary of this 
terrible natural disaster in Watertown. However, residents of Watertown 
should look back on April 6, 1997, and be proud of the way they and 
their neighbors came together and worked side by side to see their 
community survive. It is this community spirit and pride that will 
continue to make Watertown ``South Dakota's Rising Star.''

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