Flash Flood, Polk
- When
- April 18, 2:52 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
- Where
- Polk County, East Grand Forks
- Coordinates
- 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Minnesota, April 18, 1997
Dikes continued to fail along the Red River in East Grand Forks, stranding many people in their homes. National Guard and Coast Guard personnel performed many rescues.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
Dikes continued to fail along the Red River in East Grand Forks, stranding many people in their homes. National Guard and Coast Guard personnel performed many rescues. Streets became raging rivers as the Red River rose over or broke through the dikes.
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:52 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flood in North Dakota, April 18 to 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 18, 1997
- Winter Storm in Vermont, April 18 to 19, 1997
- Winter Storm in New York, April 18, 1997
- Heavy Snow in New York, April 18 to 19, 1997
- Frost and Freeze in Kentucky, April 18, 1997
- Frost and Freeze in Illinois, April 18, 1997
- Frost and Freeze in Missouri, April 18, 1997
- Frost and Freeze in Indiana, April 18, 1997
- Flash Flooding in New Hampshire, April 18 to 20, 1997
- Flash Flooding in Maine, April 18 to 20, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 18, 1997
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5624129.