Swelling to 22 times its normal size, the Red River took whatever was in its path — including 1,500 businesses and 11,000 homes in the town of Grand Forks, ND. One of those businesses was Lunseth’s Plumbing & Heating Co. Forced from their downtown offices by a “wall of water,” Lunseth’s 85 employees continue to work around the clock to get the town up and running.
“Everybody is surviving and attitudes are good,” says William O’Connell, owner of Lunseth. “It’s amazing how congenial everyone gets in the neighborhood when they line up to use the port-a-potties.” With regional cleanup costs pegged as high as $1.75 billion, the 50,000 residents of Grand Forks know they’re going to have to band together if they want to stay, and 90 percent say they do.