Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-262).

The way winter ends -- River town -- Watersick -- Red river rising -- Flood and fire -- Devastation -- Angels and devils -- The value of home -- The mistake -- To rebuild a city you must take it apart -- Flood angst -- Disaster democracy -- After the flood. "On April 19, 1997, in one of the most dramatic floods in U.S. history, more than 50,000 people abandoned their homes and businesses in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A nation watched as the heart of downtown, engulfed by a river, burst into flames above the water line. Red River Rising is a compelling true-life narrative about the confluence of natural forces and human error that shaped one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history." "This book is more than a gripping story of ordinary people rising to an extraordinary challenge. It is a clear-eyed examination of the disastrous aftermath: the second-guessing and blame directed at the National Weather Service, at city and federal officials, and at the people of Grand Forks themselves as the city struggled to rebuild. With empathy and penetrating intelligence, Ashley Shelby pinpoints for the first time the moment when science failed, and she uncovers the conflicts, conspiracy theories, and recriminations that tore at the community after the waters fell"--Jacket.