A different view of 2012 flood

By Andee Erickson aerickson@duluthnews.com

From the aerial view of an airplane to the basements of flooded homes, News Tribune photographers sought to capture both up-closeand-personal as well as grand-scope images to tell the story of the 2012 flood.

“I immediately wanted to get up in the air,” recounted Bob King, recently retired News Tribune photographer of 39 years. “I knew that aerials would be such a valuable way to show people the scope. There’s the ground angle, the close-up, that’s important, but no one knows the scope until you’re up in the air.”

No lives were lost as a result of the flooding in June 2012, but the rain ruined homes, businesses and roads around the Northland. To understand how severe the damage was, King made a reservation for a ride in an airplane as soon as the storm clouds cleared June 20, 2012.

He asked the pilot to circle around certain areas a number of times to get various angles, or to tilt the plane to accommodate the best lighting. To King, seeing the water surrounding the homes in Thomson, or the school in Moose Lake brought the aftermath of the flood home. He knew it would for News Tribune readers, too.

“I’m always looking to compose a nice picture, trying to get a sense of context,” King said. “You just try to bring it home. So I was trying to look for things that would really bring it home: the devastation or the amount of water covering the area.”

Back on the ground, King and other News Tribune photographers would scatter off to wherever someone was reporting significant damage.

As soon as he became aware of the vehicle that fell into the sinkhole on Skyline Parkway, King ran to the scene.

To capture the detail of the damage done to

Vermillion Road in Duluth, he timed his visit so the lighting would be just right to reveal the textures of the road.

“I had to move around quite a bit to find just the right spot and angle. I waited for somebody to show up,” King said. “That person provides a real context for the size.”

News Tribune photographer Clint Austin had been out photographing during the first few hours of the rainfall June 19, 2012, and could already tell it wasn’t going to be just any rain event.

“Once I was out there that first night I didn’t want to stop shooting because I could feel how different it was,” Austin said. “But I had to make some quick decisions and then get back and turn them in.”

That night, while monitoring his sump pump and getting very little sleep, a friend called him at 3 a.m. to tell him a polar bear was missing from the Lake Superior Zoo.

“At first I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming,” Austin said. He recalled texting an editor and being told to stay put until morning.

He was photographing the rush of the Lester

River flowing above its banks in East Duluth the next day when he got a call that people were being evacuated from their homes in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

“I headed west to go cover that, but the big thing that morning was it was really hard to get anywhere,” Austin said. “It just took an enormous amount of

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I enjoy watching documentaries that show a behind-thescenes look at how movies, albums, books or artwork are created. Some might say those peeks behind the curtain steal some of the magic behind masterpieces, but, to me, a closer look at the creative process only leaves me with a longer-lasting appreciation for the passion and work ethic of the creators. I want to see the entire process, from choosing a slab of rock from which the statue was created to brushing away the final crumbs before it hits public display. For the 2020 August DNT Extra, the News Tribune staff is excited to give readers a peek into the newsroom as we tell you the stories behind some of the biggest newsmaking events that we have covered in the past several decades. This issue of DNT Extra covers big weather events such as the infamous 1991 Halloween blizzard and the 2012 floods, tragedies such as the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Congdon murders, as well as celebrity visits to the Northland from Bob Dylan and several presidents. There are some other treats, too, including a column from longtime news scribe Jim Heffernan and DNT reporter John Myers recounting a career’s worth of handshakes with newsmakers.

We hope you’ll enjoy this special insider’s view of some of the biggest stories our newsroom has covered. Thank you for being a loyal reader of the Duluth News Tribune.

Rick Lubbers is the executive editor of the Duluth News Tribune. Contact him at 218-723-5301 or rlubbers@duluthnews.com.

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A different view of 2012 flood

Snapshots told story of Halloween 1991

’Dogs first national title was extra special

Extra! Extra!

Through the News Tribune’s lens: Northland presidential visits

Reporter on Congdon case still gets tips

Fitzgerald sinking was told in multiple runs

Reporter recalls crash that claimed Sen. Wellstone’s life

What about Bob?

A look back at newspaper, city history

Among many wildfires covered, Ham Lake caused the most heartache

Memorable handshakes while on the job

Cover: News Tribune file photos

Cover designed by Gary Meader / gmeader@duluthnews.com time because there were so many different streets that were washed out and there was debris everywhere.”

Water flowing from Miller Creek fills the backyards of several homes on West Second Street in Duluth on June, 20, 2012.

A photo of a woman evacuating her Lincoln Park home remains his favorite photo that he captured during the News Tribune’s coverage of the flood.

As for what it felt like covering such a major event taking over his community, Austin said: “The responsibility of telling the story to the readers takes over in my mind, so I don’t really think about how it’s affecting me in that moment. It’s afterward that I process it.” u