June 17, 2002 - People in Roseau, near the Canadian border, are beginning the process of cleaning up after the worst flood in that town's history. Water from the rain-swollen Roseau River receded over the weekend, after nearly a full week of devastation. City officials place early damage estimates at more than $120 million dollars as residents are discovering just how much they've lost.
September 15, 2002 - On this American RadioWorks special radio report, “Nature's Revenge - Louisiana's Vanishing Wetlands” looks at a region of the United States that is crumbling and sinking into the sea. Scientists say it's causing one of the worst and least-publicized environmental disasters in America's history. As Daniel Zwerdling reports for NPR News and ARW, there's a moral to this story: when humans try to outwit nature, it can strike back with a vengeance.
November 27, 2002 - Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports on The Peshtigo Fire, which wiped out the booming mill town of Peshtigo Wisconsin, just north of Green Bay. About two thousand people died.
June 25, 2003 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports from Buffalo Lake, a small town about 75 miles southwest of the Twin Cities, where an F2 tornado struck on June 24th. Helms speaks with residents as they start picking up the pieces from extensive damage left behind.
May 13, 2004 - All Things Considered’s David Molpus talks with Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Robertson about how the town of Roseau is preparing for a flood event. The Roseau River has risen steadily following heavy rains this week. Governor Pawlenty will visit the Northwestern Minnesota town tonight as residents there fight to hold back floodwaters. Residents are hoping to avoid the disastrous flooding they experienced in 2002.
May 14, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Roberston reports that the floodwaters are starting to recede in the northwestern Minnesota town of Roseau. The Roseau River crested on May 14th at 25.3 feet, but then went down several inches from that level. That's welcome news for a town that was devastated by floodwaters just two years ago. Lessons learned from that flood helped keep the town mostly dry this time around.
July 15, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that many farmers in northwest Minnesota aren't sure how much longer they can hang on after several years of crop failure. Minnesota Farm Service Agency officials are adding up the damage from wet fields in northern and western Minnesota. A report will go to Governor Pawlenty in preparation for seeking a federal disaster declaration.
September 8, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Mary Harbeck, a nurse serving with the Minnesota Disaster Medical Assistance Team in Biloxi, Mississippi. The team is providing medical care in the hurricane-affected region amidst aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
August 23, 2006 - American RadioWorks and Marketplace present the documentary “Rebuilding Biloxi: One Year after Katrina.” Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of thousands of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents. Rebuilding Biloxi tells the stories of several families in the coastal community of Biloxi, MS, and their struggle to survive and then recover from the storm.
September 18, 2006 - MPR’s Annie Baxter reports on residents and city officials working hard to clean up parts of the northern suburb of Rogers, after tornado level winds ripped through the town on September 16th.