Trip to the Flood Zone - Minot, ND

Picture of homes that were flooded in Minot, North Dakota and the LDS Helping Hands.Notice the black tar like mud, decks and sheds up in trees, etc.

Roger, myself, Elder Woods, and Elder Venegas traveled to Minot to help those who were flooded out of their homes. It was beyond description what we saw. The homes had been flooded up to the roof lines of one story homes. Everything most people valued, were destroyed in the floods. Couches, hutches, chairs, tables, etc were all in piles in front of the homes. There was so much sewage and debris mixed with the water during the flooding that the homes were covered in mud like matter inside and out.



It is a three hour drive to Minot from Ft. Yates. We left at 5:30 am and arrived in Minot at 8:30 am. We went directly to the church building in Minot, where there is a emergency command post. As we drove up to the building, I was not prepared to see a tent city all set up on the lawn at the church. The tents are used by volunteers to stay in while they help with the clean up.




Our LDS helping hands crew in Minot, ND.

We received a helping hands t-shirt, and rubber boots,gloves, tools, and a mask to wear while we were working in the homes. We were assigned a work detail group and met up with three other Elders serving in Minot, two young girls (sisters) from one of the Minot wards, and a fellow who came from Sheridan Wyoming. All together there was 10 working on this house.

It was humbling to climb out our truck and approach the home where we were assigned to work. A couple who are the owners of the home, in their sixties were there working alongside of us. The husband has colon cancer. The owners are determined to rebuild their home which is no more than a block from the river. So many of their neighbors are walking away from their homes out of fear of this happening again, or lack of resources to rebuild.

Our job was to pull out all of the drywall and insulation, in order to get to the bare two by fours of the home. This was a much older home which was a little bit more of a challenge to pull apart because of the plastering and drywall construction practices from over 60 years ago. It was a dirty, stinky job.
The dry wall would sometimes come off the walls inch by inch and never as a whole sheet.


It was hard work and we were exhausted by the end of our shift that day. The owners of the home were so grateful for our efforts as they could not afford to hire someone to come dismantle their home. The home will air out for a few weeks and then the re-building begins.




View of flooded street.


Just for your information. The Elders in this mission have come for complete weeks camping out at the church and working. They would work any where from 8 to 12 hours a day. It is a good thing they are young! The church has a hotline that people call requesting help. They do not have to be LDS to get help. Questions are asked about the condition of their homes and special needs and then the requests are prioritized according to the circumstances. It was a great experience to be a part of the recovery and rebuilding process for the people in Minot, North Dakota.