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Debris along Rapid Creek after the flood.

The Black Hills Flood of 1972, in the Black Hills of Western South Dakota, USA, occurred on June 9, 1972. The extreme rainfall of around 15 inches (380 mm) of rain in 6 hours sent Rapid Creek and other creeks overflowing and flooded many residential and commercial properties around the Black Hills. During the night of June 9, the Canyon Lake Dam became clogged with debris and failed, resulting in 238 deaths and 3,057 injuries. Several bodies were never found.^[1] There were over 1,335 homes and 5,000 automobiles destroyed. The value of the damaged property was over $160M 1972 dollars.

Cars jumbled together by the flood.

Reactions

One unidentified resident of Rapid City, which was flooded, spoke to a reporter after the flood. "...the only thing above water is the hilltops. I guess it just ... I guess we gotta couple troubles."

Another survivor said: "My house is no more. You can see it over there, there's the, well, there just isn't anything."

And another unidentified survivor added: "A man knocked at our door and said, 'Get out as fast as you can.' We grabbed the children and my dad's crippled and we picked him up and put him in the car, and just as we drove out the driveway, a big trailer started floating right across the pathway, and we just made it up the hill and that was all it was. Everything was gone."^[2]

References

• http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-037-02/

External links

• The Rapid City Public Library offers an online digital archive which collects audio and video recordings of survivors, written accounts and photos from survivors, as well as news broadcasts from the 1972 flood.