Thursday, June 09, 2011

Rapid City Flood of 1972

On the night of June 9, 1972 the Canyon Lake Dam failed & the Rapid Creek flooded sending a wave of water & debris down foam the Black Hills into Rapid City, South Dakota killing 238 people and destroying over a thousand homes.
Heavy rains in the mountains, approx 15" in 6 hours, produced the destructive wave crashing through town late at night. The river levels were back to normal early the next day.
A devastated area of Rapid City has a new life now as Memorial Park.

Rapid City Library

Wikipedia

No comments: