FARGO, N.D. — He’s the rumbling voice of Fargo’s flood fight, the 6-foot-5 big guy from a small town who tempers a gruff exterior with constant quips and a tendency to break down in tears when he visits volunteers.
Now Mayor Dennis Walaker faces his biggest test as residents count on him to save their city from the swollen Red River. Those who know him best say he’s up to the challenge.
“I don’t think we would want anyone else in this situation,” said Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn. “He’s Denny. He’s authentic. People like that.”
For Walaker, a native of nearby Leonard, N.D., who spent 32 years working for the city before he was elected mayor in 2006, flood fighting is nothing new. As director of the city public works department, he was on the front lines during the 1997 Red River flood, when Fargo escaped the devastation that ravaged Grand Forks.
His confidence and humor during media briefings made him a hero among citizens and a media favorite.
He has shown the same flair in this crisis, leading a week-long sandbagging effort to raise the city’s dikes to 43 feet.
Walaker usually begins each morning’s flood briefing with a joke. One day he told residents they should conserve water by showering together.
Fargoans have applauded their mayor at community meetings, even some who were told that their houses would be on the wrong side of backup levees if the river topped the reinforced dikes. He told residents that once it was all over, he would buy everyone a beer.
“Dennis is like one of those big teddy bears,” said Brad Wimmer, another Fargo city commissioner. “Dennis has been to tears several times during this flood, with neighbors and friends and working with staff.”
Earlier this week, Walaker admitted he was exhausted by days of fighting the flood and by years of fighting for money for permanent flood protection.
“This is getting old, guys,” he said. “Or I’m getting old. That’s probably true on both ends.”
