238 People Victims of Flood
Rapid City remembers 1972 disaster

Rapid Citians who went to bed early that June night in 1972 awoke to a world gone mad. During the dark, rainy night, a normally placid little creek meandering through the heart of town became a raging torrent, ripping homes from foundations, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Entire neighborhoods were swept away, mud-covered thoroughfares were clogged with houses, cars and boats, furniture and household appliances.

Flash floods that rampaged through the Black Hills on June 9, 1972, killed 238 people, including five missing, and injured more than 3,000 others.

Total damages finally tallied out at $l65 million; $66 million in Rapid City alone. More than 1,300 homes and 36 businesses were destroyed; 2.800 homes and 236 business were damaged, and 5,000 vehicles piled up under bridges or were tossed across streets and yards like Matchbox toys.

Nearly a quarter of a century later, survivors still relive the traumatic memories of that June night.

Climbing to second floors or attics while flood waters swirled through lower levels.

Hearing screams out of the darkness while precariously clinging to trees, roofs and mounds of debris through an endless, horror-filled night.

Fleeing from their homes, carrying a few meager possessions. Returning the next day to find nothing but foundations or parts of walls.

Although forecasters predicted isolated thunderstorms for western South Dakota as early as 9 a.m. that Friday, thunderstorms are a common June occurrence. There was no warning that these storms would kick off the worst flood disaster in Black Hills history.

The freak series of storms collided, then stalled over the Black Hills, dumping more than a billion tons of water, in excess of 10 inches of rain, over the 60-square-mile area.

Swollen by runoff from canyons, feeder creeks and drainage basins in the higher hills, water overwhelmed quiet little Rapid Creek.

Although damage had already occurred elsewhere, the major path of destruction was an eight-mile wide swath cutting west to east through the heart of the town.

Earliest high water warnings came from Lawrence County's Sheriff Dick McGrath in a 6:45 p.m. phone call. He reported water running a foot deep over Boulder Canyon's Highway l4A between Sturgis and Deadwood.

National Weather Service flash flood warnings for the Northern Hills went out about 7 p.m. An hour later, warnings were revised to include Box Elder and Rapid Creek drainage areas.

Most residents weren't terribly concerned. They'd lived through high water before; knew what measures were necessary to protect possessions. They moved furniture off basement floors; stuffed towels and rugs under doors. For many, evacuation wasn't even considered until it was much too late.

By 10:30 p.m., TV and radio broadcasts were urging immediate evacuation of low-lying areas. Fifteen minutes later, Canyon Lake dam ruptured, sending a wall of water downstream. Shortly after midnight the flood crest reached downtown Rapid City.

Firemen, police officers, National Guardsmen and volunteers with boats spent the night on rescue missions and evacuation assistance.

But full realization of the extent of the catastrophe came only when daylight revealed incredible damages that had been concealed by darkness. A dense, eerie fog hung over the town, described by Mayor Don Barnett as "just like a cloud of death."

Most of the city was without power, water system and natural gas. The gruesome task of body recovery began as rescue teams walked both sides of the creek and scuba divers searched the debris-laden waters.

At times up to 2,000 names were on the missing list. And the death toll mounted, hour by hour.

"First it was 50 dead. Then it was 75 dead. Then it was l00," recalled Barnett.

The morning after the flood the greatest terror in our hearts were the missing ... the incredible fear .... when you're not sure where your mother, father, husband, wife, son or daughter is ... I remember the terror in their eyes as they ran down the creek looking. That is indelible in my mind. I will never get those thoughts and faces out of my memory.

Eleven people died in Keystone, all campers caught in creekside sites, and hundreds of tourists were stranded by washed-out highways. In Black Hawk, where some bodies weren't found for nearly a month, 14 deaths were reported. Substantial public and private property losses were tallied in most communities, including Sturgis, Boulder Canyon, Spearfish, Box Elder, Hermosa. Although the Deadwood/Lead area escaped the l972 flood, three years later one woman died in a flood and mudslide near the Deadwood rodeo grounds.

President Nixon issued his federal disaster-area declaration for four counties on Saturday afternoon. Federal funding, private donations and thousands of volunteers poured into the area as Black Hills communities began to dig out from the tragedy.

Federal aid totaled $170 million, including a $48 million HUD urban renewal grant that enabled the city to buy property in the flood plain and move owners to higher ground. A quickly-formed disaster foundation began administering $1.4 million in private donations from all over the country. Flood victims were given immediate assistance, as well as one-percent SBA loans to repair or replace lost and damaged properties.

Within three months, flood clean up had been completed. Roads, bridges and utilities were replaced through the next two years. An eight-year recovery plan was completed in six years.

A more beautiful city emerged from the debris. Miles of greenway now wind through areas where flood waters rampaged. A bicycle path and pedestrian trail connects five parks, from Roosevelt Park on the east to Memorial, Sioux, Jackson and Canyon Lake parks on the west.

Rapid City has frequently been cited as a national model of disaster recovery, an example of city, state and federal government working together. Leonard Swanson, retired city public works director, has described the rebirth of Rapid City innumerable times for Washington, D.C. officials.

The flood recovery program made Rapid City one of the most beautiful cities in America," former mayor Barnett said on the 20th anniversary of the 1972 flood.

The price was astronomical in terms of the loss of life. ...(The flood plain) should always be a recreational area all the way through town. ... If we forget those lessons we should be ashamed of ourselves.

When they went to the polls in April, Rapid City voters clearly demonstrated they have not yet forgotten the tragic lessons learned 24 years ago.

In a heavy turnout, 57.4 percent of city voters rejected an iniative that would have permitted the sale of 15.5 acres of the protective greenway on the west side of town, where Nash Finch hoped to build a new Family Thrift grocery store.