Delegation from Louisiana to Visit North Dakota to Share Disaster Lessons

A delegation from St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana is to visit the Grand Forks area this week to share disaster lessons.

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro is to lead the delegation of about a dozen people in meetings with officials from the Grand Forks area and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to discuss the area’s recovery from the 1997 Red River flood. St. Bernard Parish was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Taffaro said the Louisiana officials hope to learn from the Grand Forks recovery.

“There is nothing like learning from experience,” he said.

St. Bernard’s population is estimated at less than half its pre-Katrina population of about 67,000. Three years after the hurricane, the parish southeast of New Orleans still lacks adequate housing and a hospital.

Grand Forks officials said the visitors from Louisiana will tour both sides of the Red River and talk with community members and business owners. It is “our way to give back to the people around the country who supported us in our time of need,” Mayor Mike Brown said in a statement.