Photographs are available upon request.
When last April's flood reached the small town of Beardsley, Minn., the water almost became a permanent resident. For months, it was pumped continuously from the basement of the local United Methodist church at a rate of 100 gallons a minute through July, finally tapering to a trickle in September. Residents, including 40 to 50 percent of the church members, also were affected. For Grafenstein's family and others, the waterlogged buildings brought health hazards. We found out our son was, too.