I was 16 when the flood hit. My family lived on a Cul-de-sac across from Sioux Park about three blocks east of Storybrook Island. We were listening to a transistor radio when the Mayor ordered everyone to evacuate. My dad gave me a rope to tie around my mom and little brother and told me to get them to high ground across Jackson Blvd. My dad went into our garage to pull the main breaker and followed us to high ground. I waded out with my mom and brother with our dog in my arms in chest deep water. We spent the night in our friends home along with about 30 other refugees. The next morning my dad and I waded back toward our house. The water was still running swiftly about waist deep. We saw our neighbor John on the roof of our house with his friend. We got some National Guardsmen to take a boat and go rescue John and his friend. When the water receded we went back to our home to survey the damage. Our garage and cars were gone. We found several dead bodies in our Cul-de-sac. I believe that my dad considered me a man that night as he left his wife and youngest son in my care and trusted me to get them to safety.
Phil Wendling Sometimes it takes a disaster to force us to grow up early, too many young people today foolishly and selfishly take life for granted. I’m sure that you woke up that day as a typical kid, but by the end of the day you became a grownup. So glad to know that your family survived.
Outstanding telling of your story Phil! I could almost see it all as you spoke....well, wrote. 😄 What was the reason for pulling the main breaker? Safety?
Bearded Jagger i agree, I hated history in school. They took the most interesting subject and turned it into the most boring one. We were forced to memorize, names, places and dates. None of the real history was left. Just one reason I hated school.
Thank you for this video. My dad was in this flood and I think part of what he struggles with is that no one has ever heard of it. He lost friends and his life was changed forever, but no one outside of Rapid City remembers it. Thank you for not only remembering, but honoring it's importance in our history.
My Air Force dad was sent there 2 weeks after the flood, took us kids with him. I will never forget what I saw there. was once a bridge over a huge chasm, that was no longer there, it was mind blowing. There was a huge senior citizen apartment complex along the main road through town, it looked normal from the front of the building but the back of it was totally bare, you could see into the apartments and it was on a hill.
I was in Rapid City that day with my family on a vacation. I was 6 years old, but still remember it. Our RV was having engine troubles and the plan was to stay overnight at the campground on Rapid Creek until the repair shop could work on it the next day. My dad and grandfather heard about about the rain forecast on the radio, and they decided to limp the RV home to Kansas City by driving all night. I can even remember later that night watching the lightning way off in the distance. So thankful they made that decision since several people from that campground lost their lives.
This man does a great job! He has obviously been thorough in his preparation. He uses the graphics well. And he is eminently clear in voice and delivery. What a pleasure to view! Thank you, History Guy!
I was born and raised in Lewistown, PA. and in 1972, a devastating flood hit Lewistown and much of Pennsylvania. It was caused by Hurricane Agnes. Many industries were severely damaged or destroyed in the flood. To this day, my hometown of Lewistown has not fully recovered. In 1973, Lewistown, PA. gained an All American City status because of the comeback Lewistown did make after the flood. Many people moved away to find work after the 1972 flood. Lewistown may have changed over the years, but there are still a lot of hardworking people who have pride in the town. I’m not sure if you would be interested in doing a story about the 1972 floods in Lewistown and Pennsylvania. I enjoy your videos.
I was visiting friends in Iowa when the flood hit, watched in horror at the devastation on the news report. As I've handled heavy equipment all my life, I knew I could help. Jumped on my motorcycle and rode up there as fast as I could. When I got near, the Nat Guard was turning everyone back for obvious reasons. When I got to the check point I told the NG officer I was a recent Army vet, back from Nam and knew how to handle big equipment. I was told to find a piece of equipment I could operate and follow directions. I operated a front loader with a grapple hook for 8 days non-stop clearing large timbers and cars. It was so sad retrieving the bodies. My brother had an RV manufacturing company in Indiana, they got a FEMA contract for 500 emergency trailers, the first ones were there before I left.
First, thank you for your service. I am so sorry for the battle you all faced when you CAME HOME. I was 8 years old when I began to realize a war was going on. the war would end 3 yrs later. And after reading your account I want to thank you again for continuing with the same integrity and love of fellow man to rush to the place you were needed. Uncommon Valor.
I missed being in that flood by about 6 hours. Being in the US Army, I was en-route from Fort Lewis Washington to Fort Bliss Texas as a member of the 3rd Armored Cav's Advanced party for the unit's transfer from mountain warfare training to desert warfare training because of the problems in the middle east (seems that is the root of many battles). Being a resident of South Dakota I stopped some 200 miles north to see my folks, then drove down to Rapid City to spend the night with my wife's uncle and aunt who had a beautiful home just off Rapid Creek. What a lovely place it was. The following morning we loaded up our old car and headed south. Not knowing what had happened just shortly after we left the city till I arrived at my unit headquarters and checked in down at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas. One of the NCO'S expressed his condolences for what happened to Rapid City, and I had to ask what, as we didn't listen to radio back then on the road but carried on conversations about everything we were seeing that was so new to us. Well he told me of the flood, and I pulled out the little television set that I purchased in Tokyo on my way home from Vietnam and tuned it to a local channel where the videos were coming in. Now I didn't see the house where we stayed, the news did't hit that particular block but I knew that it must have been hit. My wife, in a panic called her uncle, but here was no answer so she called her mom who relayed that her uncle had gotten the family out of the house and up on higher ground before the house was taken away by flood waters. The Uncle and his wife still live in Rapid City, now in a retirement home, both in wheel chairs. My wonderful wife, who stood my my side for over 51 years now lays in the funeral home, her burial will be on Tuesday next. GOD HOW I MISS HER!
My grandfather was in the 3rd cavalry Armored Division. He started out in the horse cavalry at Fort Meade Sturgis and was on the last horse maneuvers across the plains through parts of wyoming. Sorry for your loss.
I was in it. 14 years old with my brother 17. We were in West side trailer court behind Fisher Furniture. I remember the wall of water and then floating fast. Saw several people go under and was able to jump in and swim up to the rail road tracks where it was only waist deep. Will never forget that night. Lucky to be alive.
In east Texas, north of Houston the Trinity River has flooded so many times people have lost count. The SAME people would go in and rebuild, time and again. The national flood insurance program finally declared they would buy everyone out, and NOT provide future flood protection. You guessed it. A BUNCH of people refused the buyout, rebuilt and WHINED when they got no more money. From my understanding the government stuck to their guns and wouldn't bail people out if they'd denied the buyout. Some are born without brains, others work hard to destroy what they got from their maker.
I was born one week after this flood at Ellsworth AFB. My parents always told me it was a premonition of my life, and, for my childhood, that was pretty accurate.
I worked as geologist for a civil engineer and did manual flood routing on proposed dams in 73. A year later in Siloam Springs AR I got to witness a 14" rain in 6 hours...and sat on a bank above a creek for 2 hours more waiting for it to crest and fall. Even so I detoured twice more to get home. The last dam I flood routed was finished only a couple months earlier and expected to take 2+ years to fill. It filled in that one day and the dam held.
I'm at 3750 ft on a wooded hill a few miles West of Rapid City. I can look down into town. The short-sighted fools have forgotten what happened in '72 and there are new houses and businesses in some areas of the flood plain. Some people never learn, some are willing to risk it. And of course, Real Estate agents gotta earn a living, too. The story of Human History.
I would imagine the land there is cheap, and ppl with lower incomes are going to take that chance....like in hawaii, most of the land is stupid expensive, but the land in the flow path of the volcanoes is super cheap (in comparison) so that's where people with lower incomes buy and build......I cant blame them.....owning a home and land is still one of the greatest of American dreams.
It’s some of the prettiest land in Rapid. Most of the flood plain is bike path and parks. Not sure how this is happening but it is very tempting to build there. We also seem to have a lot of conflict of interest as far as real estate people being on city council.
Hey, people are stupid. My sister moved to Seattle in 1983; lived there for about 8 years, then bought a nice, small house....which was smack in one of Mt Rainier's past lava flow tracks. When I mentioned this, and the fact that good ole' Rainier is overdue to blow it's top, she just ignored me. It was only when another volcano erupted that she made plans to move back east. She came back in 2007. Naples is filled with morons who are just waiting to be covered in lava and ash; Vesuvius is also overdue. As is Tambora, and Krakatoa. Flood, volcano, ugh. People never learn.
I absolutely love history! I can't believe I only found this channel about a week ago. On the upside, I get to binge watch sooooooooooo many episodes 😄 there's enough content to keep my nerdy little heart happy for days and days!
My family took a trip in July of 1972 when I was 16 from New Jersey to Seattle to Los Angeles and back to NJ. We drove through Rapid City about a month after this flood. We could still see its aftermath. I appreciate this information from the History Guy about the flood. I'm sorry to read the stories here from those who experienced the death and destruction of the flood.
Thank you for clarifying what the term “500 year floodplain” actually means. People are lulled into complacency by thinking that a flood like that won’t happen for another 500 years. People need more exposure to statistics. Great job!
People have exposure, they’re just too dumb to understand statistics. Schools and universities are in the business of indoctrinating social justice warriors and most of the “teachers” are “diversity” hires that obsesses over gender, fairness , and income redistribution instead of education . 30 per cent of college graduates were unable to name the 2 countries that fought our civil war and 18 per cent could not describe what a civil war is. They were however, proficient at taking selfies, with most of them admitting to taking over 1000 pictures of themselves per year.
@Tracy Lund yeah's it's not about continually steady likelyhood but over long term averages. That's what blew people's minds with Fukushima as after Chernobyl numbers like "a 10,000 year occurence" had been thrown around... ignoring that that needs amongst other things to also regard that there were over 350 nuclear reactors on Earth at the time... and that - if you include that in your calculation - a likelyhood to happen only once every 28.6-ish years (as far as we know) doesn't mean you have a guarantee of 28,59 years without incident...
Actually 500 years is not the occurance of the flood or chance of that size flood, its actually about damage similar to the Fujita scale for tornadoes. This video helps explain it better. th-cam.com/video/EACkiMRT0pc/w-d-xo.html
I was assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base starting in the fall of 72. While I miss the flood itself I did see the devastating results of the flood. I still remember the bridge on the west side of Rapid City was out for a couple of years after the flood. I also remember how close the floodplain was to the center of town. I think it was only a block away. I really appreciate this video because it gave me some background information about an area that I lived in all the time I was in the Air Force.
I can relate as I arrived at Ellsworth in September 72 and immediately was assigned to help in recovery and clean up efforts for at least a week or 2. I remember the cars stacked up like blocks along St. Joseph street. Entire car dealerships lost inventory mud , mud and more mud and debris everywhere.
Building on flood plains is thoroughly stupid, which is why I did due diligence before buying property. I let other people build stupidly. The US is vast. No one NEEDS to live in a flood zone.
In Australia , In 2011 there was a flood on the TOP of the range in Toowoomba, Queensland . MANY people died and it destroyed much property. In a area that usually suffers from drought. It was highly unusual. Those who died deserve to be remembered.
Very well made and researched! We're relatively new Rapid City residents, but everyone over a certain age in the area has a story of the Flood of 1972. The floodplain is now mostly parks and public spaces. The dog park up west of town along the creek is actually kind of interesting, as you can still see foundations of the houses that were destroyed by the flood, as well as enjoy the lilacs they must have had in their yards, which still grow and bloom in the spring. It's usually one of the first history pieces I'll tell people about the area when they visit, since most people have never heard of it.
i live about 40 miles from johnstown pa and i was 10 at the time of the 77 johnstown flood. i still remember it. we lived in the mountains yet still had 3 feet of water in our basement. it was a terrible tragedy as was this. another super episode, thank you
I arrived in Rapid City in December of 1972, as a new airman assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base. My supervisor had survived the flood and was living in a FEMA trailer. I was single so lived on base, which was just as well, as there was no housing to be had in town.
My father in law, a construction contractor and USAF LtC Reservist, took his boat down to the flooded area and saved many lives that night. Nice synopsis - your videos have come a long way in 3 yrs!
Good video! I was driving by one of the flood plains in Rapid today that is saturated with water and got to thinking about the flood. Didn't realize that it was the anniversary of it today!
I agree. I was 13 and on a family vacation. We had spent the last month in the Rockies from Alberta to Colorado, and had spent the two days in Estes Park / RMNP area. We left Estes Park in the late afternoon on 7/31 on our way to Ft. Collins where my uncle lived. We exited the canyon maybe around 6 or 7 PM, before the flood hit. We knew nothing about it until later at my uncle's house. If we had been in the canyon when it hit, we would have been very lucky to survive.
Kristina Hey, right on, I've been suggesting this as well. I live in Colorado Springs my parents and I we're camping two weeks before the Big Thompson broke and we've had family that were still camping that were on Higher Ground it just demolished everything in its path as it came down into and thru Estes Park. Horrid tragedy😐
I worked briefly, one year, for a civil engineering firm and I was "the computer guy" and not an engineer but in one year I was lucky that they taught me a great deal about hydrology and it is not only extremely relevant to pretty much everybody everywhere but also is very common sense when you get down to it. Starting with: Water flows downhill. And some gets absorbed by soil and the rest flows more downhill. Whenit runs out of places to go, it collects and builds up and Voila! Flooding! They also taught me that one of the reasons that streets flood is somewhat intentional to a degree. Better to have flooded roads than homes in a subdivision. This is a great episode and I was not aware of this event until I watched this. Man, what a horrible catastrophe. History Guy is a solid presenter, does good editing and has great stories. Yay!
Thank you for a very important reminder about flash flooding. I'm in the Texas Hill Country, living at Canyon Lake (sound familiar?). Another viewer commented here about the flash flood in Wimberley Texas, about 15 miles NE of here. He asked you to do a history lesson on the flood in Wimberley. I'll second his nomination. We also had a flood here below the Canyon Lake Dam. The spillway that was built at the end of the dam did its job by releasing water in Canyon Lake around the dam, preventing the dam from being breached and washed away. The massive amount of water flowing over the spillway washed away millions of years of sedimentary rock exposing a treasure trove of fossils, dinosaur tracks, etc. The "gorge" that was left after the flooding is now a very impressive sight, and popular with tourists and geologists.
My brother in law was a member of the SD National Guard then and was assigned to body recovery immediately after the flood. Many bodies were never found, they were thought to be lost in the huge piles of mud and debris of over 1000 homes and hundreds of businesses that were all washed away. And it was heart breaking that so many of the lost were little children who had gone to sleep thinking they were safe in their beds and woke up to a real life nightmare.
1938, March. In The City of Sierra Madre, one 24 hour period, it rained over 26 inches and it rained 1 inch in 1 minute in the same time frame. The city held the record in the Continental United States for I think 5 decades. All of Southern California got flooded that year and I think there were over 50 deaths without looking it up. It changed the way our city was built after those floods with cement rivers, dams and debris basins. Maybe down the road in a couple of years, you could do one on this flood and how it affected Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. I have heard of this one before from someone else, but I enjoyed your dialog and angle. Thank you and good job!
I was born and raised in Rapid City and left in 1966. None of my friends or relatives were injured but several lost their homes along the creek. The destruction was more like a very strong tornado rather than a flood. All of the news at that time was about the US armed forces leaving Viet Nam, so most people never heard of the flood despite the 238 dead.
36736fps As a youth in Southern California at the time I heard about the Rapid City flood from the TV news and Time Magazine. The dramatic accounts with video on the evening news were horrific.The destruction and loss of life was shocking and haunts me to this day.
Speaking of news. I remember riding in the trailer court on my bike and someone had kkls on their radio. They played bells all afternoon for the troops coming home from Viet Nam.
I'm pretty sure I just read all the comments so far. I'll throw in my 2 cents. My dad was stationed at Ellsworth outside Rapid City. I was very young. My parents, a neighbor kid and I went fishing somewhere up in the Black Hills late that day, and never got to because the rain started and became so bad. My dad wasn't easily alarmed, but I could tell he and my mom were nervous about the rain. I remember it being deafening on the roof of the car. We worked our way back down, and noticed that a deep ditch on the side of the road that was basically empty when we were traveling toward the lake was now full of water. When we got down into Rapid City, seems like it was raining, but not as crazy as in the hills. We stopped and ate at Shakey's Pizza, and then headed home to Ellsworth. We didn't even know that the flood was more or less pursuing us home. The next morning, some of the men who lived near us who owned boats stopped by and got my dad, and they went to help the flood victims. I remember when he finally arrived home, he took off his ruined, wet shoes and left them by the door. He sat down, disturbed. He had not been back for very long from doing a year in Vietnam, and now this. I remember him sitting silently in his chair, thinking about what he'd seen. His shoes sat by the door for a few days, and I would stare at them and think of what I'd overheard him telling my mom, and all the horror stories neighbor kids were recounting that they'd also heard. It amazes me that I made it to my bed and safety, and had no clue what was happening just a few miles away as I slept. My heart goes out to all affected.
I was a b52 navigator stationed at Ellswoth, 1971 to 1973. My wife and 2 yr old son and I went up to see Wind Cave National Park that morning. She drove our 67 MGB and I drove my motorcycle. After visiting the cave, we stopped for lunch on the way home. We ate under a picnic table because it was raining pretty hard. Driving back north we drove through some places where the highway was flooding, but we made it back to the base OK. The next morning I got a call and found out about the flood. A group of us went out to do search and rescue. I found a baby in the river caught on a tree branch...an image welded in my mind. Over 200 were lost in the flood if I recall.
Traveled through Rapid City with my parents on the way to The Black Hills, our trip was almost two years after the flood. It was very sobering to see the damage to buildings, homes and empty areas knowing where homes once stood. Water can do so much damage. May the souls of those lost Rest In Peace.
I walked the length of the flood within Rapid City this morning. Almost all of the affected areas are now city parks, with plaques along the paths commemorating the flood with stories and photos. (While I moved here only eight years ago, at the time of this flood, I was sandbagging the Red River of the North in Fargo.)
the episode you did on “Rocketdine” in the San Fernando Valley ..... thank you again.... my mom was pregnant with my sister that year.... you unknowingly answered many questions for me
I remember this vividly. Our family was there vacationing just weeks later in Custer State Park where so many campers were swept away. A number of good friends went to school there at the School of Mines.
History Guy! Love your stuff, keep up the great work! This story made me think of a flooding disaster that happened in my own community, Des Moines, Iowa, where the floods of 1993 caused us to lose our drinking water for two weeks in July '93. From what I understand, we were the biggest city in American history to suffer such a disaster, and it was a unique event worth covering. (hint, hint) Thanks and keep it up!
I'm a Rapid City native and although I wasn't born yet, the flood is something that is still talked about and remembered here. I remember my mother telling me about the flood. She told me that there were several family friends who were staying in her home because they lived on the floodplain and their home was destroyed. My mother also told me a story of an Air Force family that lived in Dark Canyon at the time. The Air Force husband went home to take the kids and wife to safety, but the wife refused to leave the home and unfortunately, lost her life.
I lived through that flood. I remember it was around 10:00 at night when Dad and mom loaded us all up in the car and we went to grandmas house. She lived up a street in a hill and I remember we almost made it to her house before we had to get out and walk because the streets down the hill were washing the cars (including the one we were in ) away. We made it to grandmas house and watched our car slide down the road.
My parents, were at the Canyon Lake Club on the evening of June 9th, 1972, at a Shrine event. Canyon Lake Club sat on the shore of Canyon Lake above the dam, and in order to return to their hotel, the hotel Alex Johnson, they were required to drive over one of the doomed bridges soon to be washed out by the impending breach of Canyon Lake and the torrent that followed. At around 11PM, S.Dakota Highway Patrol interrupted and demanded everyone leave immediately. My father recalled how they passed vehicles stalled along Omaha Street, which parallels Rapid creek, stalled due to motors flooded by water entering their carburetors from tire splash and the heavy rain. Within an hour of returning to the hotel, Canyon Lake had breached and a wall of water had carried away everything five blocks either side of Rapid Creek. I remember mom calling home, a ranch located on the Cheyenne river 120 miles downstream, around 4AM. My parents wanted us to know they (Mom, Dad and sister) were all fine. We had no idea what they were talking about. In 1972, we didn't even have weather radios! For weeks afterwards, debris carried downstream from Pennington County (Rapid City) was deposited along the shores of the Cheyenne river, adjacent to our ranch.
I lived in Hot Springs. I remember our baby-sitter's parents had gone to Rapid City for dinner, and we were listening to the radio for any news. We did not get quite as much rain in the south, but I vividly recall the pounding rain that night.
Hot Springs! I lived in Rapid in the late 70's, had friends with broncos, we saw a lot of damaged cabins along the tributaries around Johnson siding. My mother, who lives in Scottsdale today, remembers looking out her hotel window after the power went out, the only thing she could see was the red glow from lumber yard, on FIRE, talk about weird!
I met my wife in Hot Springs. I still have her after 34 years too. I sure miss the fun times at Evans Plunge too. This was back when it was just a simple pool, not some overdone water park. HG, are you from SD and do you still live there?
I missed being in the 1972 Flooding in Rapid City. But by September of 72 I was assigned to Ellsworth AFB nearby and one of the first things we did upon arrival was to assist in the recovery efforts. It was an overwhelming job. I remember the cars stacked up on the edge of town at car dealerships and mud and debri everywhere. It took years to recover from this tragedy. This video was very well produced and explained the situation in layman's terms. Well done.
I recommend everyone think of this when they go camping as well. You're in unfamiliar terrain, often in a secluded place. Take a moment to find out what county (USA) you're in and watch for flash flood warnings. Have a plan to get out that takes into consideration the nearest high ground. Could save your life.
The main part of the flood happened because canyon lake dam broke and let about an 8' wall of water go down the creek. The dam broke because of all the rain in the hill that night and the day before. The Army corp was worried because Pactola dam had cracks in it.Had that broke the wall of water wood have been pert near 100" deep as it wold have went down the canyons. Yes, I was there and lived in the hills for almost 50 yrs.
@@alaskahermithomesteader9549 Maybe watch the video next time. He explains that the amount of water released by the broken dam was a small fraction of the water coming in from other tributaries.
i lived at Ellsworth AFB from 67 to 71 and left So Dakota to go home to Boston in June of 71. i did miss the flood , but had many good friends still living in Rapid City and around the region. i could not believe it when i read about it the following year. i think back and i could have been in the middle of the flood if i did re up in the Air Force. to this day we talk about the flood and look at the photos from that day. thank you for the informative video. you are truly the "History man".
I had won contest for selling newspaper subscription and we were in the Black Hills at that time. We went through Rapid City shortly after the flood and as kid and I remember riding around in a station wagon numb with shock at the sight of the devastated city. Later in college at SDSM&T in RC, a friend of mine, Sandy, spoke of evacuating in chest-deep water, concerned if she and her sister were going to be wept away in the torrent. A side note, in 1983 my girlfriend Patty and I found the dead body of a 39 year old captain in Air Force, just a few yards away from where the rebuilt Canyon Lake dam is.
Just discovered your channel last week and I too love history! I was 9, and from the eastern side of SD when the flood occurred having just returned from camping in the Hills with my family a mere month before. The local news footage was shocking viewing the remnants of Keystone, and Reptile Gardens. A few years later we returned and the devastation was far worse than I could have imagined. This was indeed a 500-year flood. Ironically I live in Colorado and the Big Thompson Flood in the same era has eery similarities, just on a larger scale.
My father was on the response team after this flood. Although it was a 500 year flood, shortly after he arrived the rains returned again and the water rose again to nearly the same '500 year' level.
I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB from 99-06, my wife's, born and raised in Rapid, family talks about the flood sometimes, I never knew it was THAT bad.
Thank you for these video's. I'm from Colorado Springs, and The Big Thompson broke in mid-late 1970's. Our family and friends camped along there two weeks prior yet an Aunt and Uncle were still camping in the area but luckily were higher up. Have you made a video for this one. I seem to remember some possible neglect of being unaware of that up, up stream levels were rising because of debris, and rain. AND finally broke lose on unsuspecting campers and people who had homes Downstream by the rivers it was all demolished. Thanks again, 👍☺
I was 14 when this happened and while we didn't live in RC, I had 2 uncles/aunts, and boatload of cousins there. All survived. I"ve been to the park in RC that was put in place where the worst of the flood came though, so they are keeping much of it off limits to building. Oh, and History Guy, you look cuter with your hair longer, glad you're letting it grow out now days.
I find it ironic this video was uploaded in June of 2017, then just 2 months later, Houston suffers a 500 year flood all through its flood plains which have been significantly build upon.
When my grandpa, dad and uncles built our little house on my grandparent's land, they knew it flooded occasionally. We lived on a farm in a valley with two names Stick Springs and Spook Hollow (pronounced Holla). They elevated it 4 feet above the ground. The pillars cemented into the foundation were thick and sturdy, the rest was left open. A couple of neighbors thought it looked ridiculous. Every spring, a wet weather stream would flow out of the woods, through part of our front yard and snake its way through the valley. One year I woke up in the morning to find water just a couple of inches below the front door. The whole valley was flooded, except for our house and my grandparent's. My dad said as they were helping the neighbors my grandpa said "Ridiculous huh."
I remember this, when my unit flew up there after, seeing all the ruined cars stacked up like cordwood in fields as large as football fields.... so terrible
My father's first duty with the Guards was with the flood of 72. He was right out of Basic. I remember him talking about when I was a kid. I believe he was downtown and they were searching for bodies
This is great. My dad grew up in Nebraska and told me stories of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, how it swept out an area a half mile wide. I later read that Herbert Hoover successfully directed flood relief operations, which propelled him later into the White House, but at the cost of conscripting many African-Americans to work without pay. For both reasons, that flood history deserves to be remembered.
As a South Dakota resident, you'd think I'd have been told about this at least once. It's very surprising that I've gone this long without hearing about it.
Was just out of the Army, visiting a Army buddy in Fargo when the flood hit. A month or so later was traveling and stayed in a small tourist town being rebuilt from the flood. Made friends with a older guy that posed as a prospector, along with his jack ass. They would charge tourist for photos. Also made friends with several girls that worked at a small restaurant. They all wanted me to stay on and help rebuild. The damage from the flood was unreal. Many times wish I had stayed with them. This video brings back those faces of people that lived through that ordeal.
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered Wish I could remember. Lots of gold was being found that had washed out. But not enough to take time to find. They had to rebuild for the tourist trade, their bread & butter. Wonderful, strong people.
live in Colorado about a mile away from the nearest little creek that doesn't even have a name, it's only 2.5ft wide and in September of 2013 we got over 10 inches of rainfall in 2 days. That creek became a huge River that destroyed every road it intersected, our neighborhood became an island without clean water, sewage or electricity. It took 4 days for a single road to be opened and power to be restored, we were lucky to have only had a flooded basement :)
Hey History Guy, Would like to see your take on the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Mind boggling amounts of water, damage, and victims. Basically a rolling wall of water and debris, including miles of barbed wire, Yikes!
Yesterday was the 91st anniversary of the failure of the St. Francis Dam in California, the deadliest dam failure in U.S. history after the 1889 Johnstown Flood. You can do video on that.
I was born at Ellsworth Air Force Base one week after this event. My father, an Air Force officer and part of a B-52 crew, was one of the volunteers who went to search for bodies after this was over.
I think the circumstances were similar to the Rapid City flood. Both were caused by thunderstorms parked over mountainous terrain for hours, dropping torrential rains which had only one place to eventually go.
Another great history story, thank you. I left South Dakota in June 1972 for the USAF. I don't even recall this event and it is worth remembering. The folks in the Dakotas don't complain much. Tough, like the territory. Hey how about another topic: Which state was first to be ratified in 1989. The story goes it happened at the same time and the signatory bodies did not know which was which because the covered up the top of the document so neither state could claim who was first, ND or SD. And why were they split like that instead of using the natural boundary of the Missouri River into East and West Dakota?
I don’t think this one was the worst. I’m sure you are aware that Johnstown Pennsylvania has had a few floods. The big one in 1889 took over 2000 lives and caused massive disruption. There was one in the 1936 that was tragic but not super destructive or deadly. In 1977 there were flash flood condition like those described in this piece. That caused millions of dollars of damage and took 84 lives, very simular to the black hills flooding. It would be nice to hear History Guy do a bit on Johnstown. There is a good book by David McCullough on the 1889 flood.
I was 9 years old, my family was on vacation about a month after this flood we drove through Rapid City on our way to Mt. Rushmore.....I still remember fields full of ruined cars, bare house foundations with a house still standing because of a big tree diverting the flow of water, train tracks bent like a coil spring.......that was almost 50 years ago, and I still recall those images
I love history and I love your channel! I wonder if your parents helped influence your love for history? My dad loves history and to tell the stories his father and grandfather told him. I have a feeling your parents were also history buffs. Thanks for the wonderful videos!!
It is always a sad episode when lives are lost and the hero is nameless. Yet in Life that usually is the case. The History Guy succeeded once more to bring us "In A Flash A Flood Of History That Deserves To Be Remembered'." God Bless and thanks to The History Cat for staying dry during this episode. :-)
I remember this. I live in Iowa and the Black Hills are very popular for tourism in the upper midwest. We had a vacation there just the year before. Your assertion that they are made up of many small canyons is spot on.
Hey, History Guy: can you add bow ties with historical themed prints to your store inventory? (And maybe coordinating pocket squares?) That would be SO awesome! Bet they'd sell like hotcakes!
I have a two tragedies I'd love to see you cover. I'm new to your channel so I apologize if you've already covered these one or both of these: the 1944 Hartford, CT Circus/Bigtop fire and the the 1936 heatwave that killed so many people. Oh, one more suggestion (not trying to be greedy......but am being so regardless): the NYC Draft Riots in the mid 1800's. A little grim but that's kinda why the words 'disaster' and 'tragedy' were invented.
I would’ve been about 12 when this happened.. Living in Virginia at the time, I have absolutely no memory of hearing about it whatsoever. Thank you History Guy for your dedication.
My dad was stationed at Ellsworth AFB at this time. But we weren’t in South Dakota when the flash flood hit - we were on vacation in St Louis, MO, visiting family. I was 5 and I remember my dad driving us around Rapid City when we got back. The destruction was devastating - buildings knocked off foundations, cars in trees, tree debris everywhere. It astounded me to see flood debris at the top of tall trees.
An aunt and uncle of mine, along with their young son, lived in Rapid City during the mid-1970s, from about '75 to '77. Sometime in the early Spring of '76, my family and my aunt's family, went to a park there in Rapid City. There were men doing some sort of construction work, like around the banks of a creek, and someone in the group, or it might have just been a stranger nearby, said they were still making repairs from the flood that had taken place a few years earlier. They said how the whole area was completely flooded. I remember having a feeling of almost awe, and horror, that water could do so much damage.
At the time of the flood, I was some 600 miles away traveling to McCook Nebraska with a local RC rock band. We got there around 1am and decided to just park at a rest area and sleep and go to the motel we always stayed at in the morning. We went there around 8am and the lady said after looking at our registration card that there had been a flood in Rapid. We thought not much about it as Spring flooding was an every year event. We went to the rooms and slept for about 3 hours, then Mike and I drove through town to see how many posters for our gig that night were put up. The national news came on the radio and said there were possibly THOUSANDS dead. We were STUNNED! We did not find out about our families for two more days when Mikes dad, who was a NG Colonel was finally able to contact us in Sheridan Wyoming. It was the longest 3 days of our lives.
I was 16 when the flood hit. My family lived on a Cul-de-sac across from Sioux Park about three blocks east of Storybrook Island. We were listening to a transistor radio when the Mayor ordered everyone to evacuate. My dad gave me a rope to tie around my mom and little brother and told me to get them to high ground across Jackson Blvd. My dad went into our garage to pull the main breaker and followed us to high ground. I waded out with my mom and brother with our dog in my arms in chest deep water. We spent the night in our friends home along with about 30 other refugees. The next morning my dad and I waded back toward our house. The water was still running swiftly about waist deep. We saw our neighbor John on the roof of our house with his friend. We got some National Guardsmen to take a boat and go rescue John and his friend. When the water receded we went back to our home to survey the damage. Our garage and cars were gone. We found several dead bodies in our Cul-de-sac. I believe that my dad considered me a man that night as he left his wife and youngest son in my care and trusted me to get them to safety.
Phil Wendling
Sometimes it takes a disaster to force us to grow up early, too many young people today foolishly and selfishly take life for granted. I’m sure that you woke up that day as a typical kid, but by the end of the day you became a grownup. So glad to know that your family survived.
Wow, what a story! So scary!
Outstanding telling of your story Phil! I could almost see it all as you spoke....well, wrote. 😄 What was the reason for pulling the main breaker? Safety?
@@Joanla1954 Yes. Water hitting the breaker box could have sparked a fire
My good friend from college lived on a hill over looking the flood as a young girl. Their location kept them safe but she still had sad stories.
If this guy had been my teacher in high school, I would have aced history. He deserves _way_ more subscribers and a show on The History Channel.
I believe he had a show on the History Channel. In fact these programs are part of that show;
Bearded Jagger i agree, I hated history in school. They took the most interesting subject and turned it into the most boring one. We were forced to memorize, names, places and dates. None of the real history was left. Just one reason I hated school.
But dates and names are a part of it.
I remember a multiple choice history question from H.S.40 years ago. Who was Sinclair? I circled, he invented the gas station. Oops!
I failed a history test once. The teacher told me I didn't bullshit him enough, though my info was good.
Thank you for this video. My dad was in this flood and I think part of what he struggles with is that no one has ever heard of it. He lost friends and his life was changed forever, but no one outside of Rapid City remembers it. Thank you for not only remembering, but honoring it's importance in our history.
Prayers for your father.
I wonder with the bigger story in competition was on the national news scene in those couple of days around it.
My Air Force dad was sent there 2 weeks after the flood, took us kids with him. I will never forget what I saw there. was once a bridge over a huge chasm, that was no longer there, it was mind blowing. There was a huge senior citizen apartment complex along the main road through town, it looked normal from the front of the building but the back of it was totally bare, you could see into the apartments and it was on a hill.
I was in Rapid City that day with my family on a vacation. I was 6 years old, but still remember it. Our RV was having engine troubles and the plan was to stay overnight at the campground on Rapid Creek until the repair shop could work on it the next day. My dad and grandfather heard about about the rain forecast on the radio, and they decided to limp the RV home to Kansas City by driving all night. I can even remember later that night watching the lightning way off in the distance. So thankful they made that decision since several people from that campground lost their lives.
I can’t get enough of this channel!!! I would love to sit and talk history with this guy!!!!
I love the enthusiasm in this mans face. It helps to counteract the stereotype of historians as dry, sessile, and without passion.
This man does a great job! He has obviously been thorough in his preparation. He uses the graphics well. And he is eminently clear in voice and delivery. What a pleasure to view! Thank you, History Guy!
I was born and raised in Lewistown, PA. and in 1972, a devastating flood hit Lewistown and much of Pennsylvania.
It was caused by Hurricane Agnes.
Many industries were severely damaged or destroyed in the flood.
To this day, my hometown of Lewistown has not fully recovered.
In 1973, Lewistown, PA. gained an All American City status because of the comeback Lewistown did make after the flood.
Many people moved away to find work after the 1972 flood.
Lewistown may have changed over the years, but there are still a lot of hardworking people who have pride in the town.
I’m not sure if you would be interested in doing a story about the 1972 floods in Lewistown and Pennsylvania.
I enjoy your videos.
I was visiting friends in Iowa when the flood hit, watched in horror at the devastation on the news report. As I've handled heavy equipment all my life, I knew I could help. Jumped on my motorcycle and rode up there as fast as I could. When I got near, the Nat Guard was turning everyone back for obvious reasons. When I got to the check point I told the NG officer I was a recent Army vet, back from Nam and knew how to handle big equipment. I was told to find a piece of equipment I could operate and follow directions. I operated a front loader with a grapple hook for 8 days non-stop clearing large timbers and cars. It was so sad retrieving the bodies. My brother had an RV manufacturing company in Indiana, they got a FEMA contract for 500 emergency trailers, the first ones were there before I left.
First, thank you for your service. I am so sorry for the battle you all faced when you CAME HOME. I was 8 years old when I began to realize a war was going on. the war would end 3 yrs later. And after reading your account I want to thank you again for continuing with the same integrity and love of fellow man to rush to the place you were needed. Uncommon Valor.
Many thanks. Semper fi
Ralph Craig God bless you, sir! Thank you for your service to our country, both in Vietnam and Rapid City.
Wow! You deserve a double thanks for serving our country! Thank you for sharing your story!
@@donnastarnes3104 What a lovely post Donna! Amen to all you said!
Thank you for listing all the victims of this tragedy. It honors them, and truly brings out the reality of the devastation.
I missed being in that flood by about 6 hours. Being in the US Army, I was en-route from Fort Lewis Washington to Fort Bliss Texas as a member of the 3rd Armored Cav's Advanced party for the unit's transfer from mountain warfare training to desert warfare training because of the problems in the middle east (seems that is the root of many battles). Being a resident of South Dakota I stopped some 200 miles north to see my folks, then drove down to Rapid City to spend the night with my wife's uncle and aunt who had a beautiful home just off Rapid Creek. What a lovely place it was. The following morning we loaded up our old car and headed south. Not knowing what had happened just shortly after we left the city till I arrived at my unit headquarters and checked in down at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas. One of the NCO'S expressed his condolences for what happened to Rapid City, and I had to ask what, as we didn't listen to radio back then on the road but carried on conversations about everything we were seeing that was so new to us. Well he told me of the flood, and I pulled out the little television set that I purchased in Tokyo on my way home from Vietnam and tuned it to a local channel where the videos were coming in. Now I didn't see the house where we stayed, the news did't hit that particular block but I knew that it must have been hit. My wife, in a panic called her uncle, but here was no answer so she called her mom who relayed that her uncle had gotten the family out of the house and up on higher ground before the house was taken away by flood waters. The Uncle and his wife still live in Rapid City, now in a retirement home, both in wheel chairs. My wonderful wife, who stood my my side for over 51 years now lays in the funeral home, her burial will be on Tuesday next. GOD HOW I MISS HER!
Jerry Ericsson I'm so sorry for you loss, seek the peace that surpasses understanding!
So sorry, Sir, for your loss... My prayers go out to you and your family..
Oh I am so so sorry for your loss. Sending prayers to your family.
My grandfather was in the 3rd cavalry Armored Division. He started out in the horse cavalry at Fort Meade Sturgis and was on the last horse maneuvers across the plains through parts of wyoming.
Sorry for your loss.
I was in it. 14 years old with my brother 17. We were in West side trailer court behind Fisher Furniture. I remember the wall of water and then floating fast. Saw several people go under and was able to jump in and swim up to the rail road tracks where it was only waist deep. Will never forget that night. Lucky to be alive.
In east Texas, north of Houston the Trinity River has flooded so many times people have lost count. The SAME people would go in and rebuild, time and again. The national flood insurance program finally declared they would buy everyone out, and NOT provide future flood protection. You guessed it. A BUNCH of people refused the buyout, rebuilt and WHINED when they got no more money. From my understanding the government stuck to their guns and wouldn't bail people out if they'd denied the buyout. Some are born without brains, others work hard to destroy what they got from their maker.
@@tomswinburn1778 I will build there. History will not repeat.
I was born one week after this flood at Ellsworth AFB. My parents always told me it was a premonition of my life, and, for my childhood, that was pretty accurate.
@@tomswinburn1778 Yeah. It's what happens when you have a fish camp and decide to call it home year round.
Camp Stove
Hopefully you didn’t lose family.
As a professional Hydrologist this is a very nicely done layman's explanation of flooding. Thank you for a fascinating channel.
I worked as geologist for a civil engineer and did manual flood routing on proposed dams in 73. A year later in Siloam Springs AR I got to witness a 14" rain in 6 hours...and sat on a bank above a creek for 2 hours more waiting for it to crest and fall. Even so I detoured twice more to get home. The last dam I flood routed was finished only a couple months earlier and expected to take 2+ years to fill. It filled in that one day and the dam held.
Thanks for the share.
I'm at 3750 ft on a wooded hill a few miles West of Rapid City. I can look down into town. The short-sighted fools have forgotten what happened in '72 and there are new houses and businesses in some areas of the flood plain. Some people never learn, some are willing to risk it. And of course, Real Estate agents gotta earn a living, too. The story of Human History.
There's no planning authority that could or would prevent building there? I mean, it's not much better here, but still.
I would imagine the land there is cheap, and ppl with lower incomes are going to take that chance....like in hawaii, most of the land is stupid expensive, but the land in the flow path of the volcanoes is super cheap (in comparison) so that's where people with lower incomes buy and build......I cant blame them.....owning a home and land is still one of the greatest of American dreams.
It’s some of the prettiest land in Rapid. Most of the flood plain is bike path and parks. Not sure how this is happening but it is very tempting to build there. We also seem to have a lot of conflict of interest as far as real estate people being on city council.
sledawgpilot Yeah, flood plaines are generally easy to build upon, flat and once settled pretty stable. Only too bad for the water that can come...
Hey, people are stupid. My sister moved to Seattle in 1983; lived there for about 8 years, then bought a nice, small house....which was smack in one of Mt Rainier's past lava flow tracks. When I mentioned this, and the fact that good ole' Rainier is overdue to blow it's top, she just ignored me. It was only when another volcano erupted that she made plans to move back east. She came back in 2007. Naples is filled with morons who are just waiting to be covered in lava and ash; Vesuvius is also overdue. As is Tambora, and Krakatoa. Flood, volcano, ugh. People never learn.
I absolutely love history! I can't believe I only found this channel about a week ago. On the upside, I get to binge watch sooooooooooo many episodes 😄 there's enough content to keep my nerdy little heart happy for days and days!
"Omega DuBois" is a great name
My family took a trip in July of 1972 when I was 16 from New Jersey to Seattle to Los Angeles and back to NJ. We drove through Rapid City about a month after this flood. We could still see its aftermath. I appreciate this information from the History Guy about the flood. I'm sorry to read the stories here from those who experienced the death and destruction of the flood.
Thanks for the memory, my Dad was stationed at Ellsworth AFB, the base was to help find victims, my Dad helped. It was a mess.
This gentleman is great.
Thank you for clarifying what the term “500 year floodplain” actually means. People are lulled into complacency by thinking that a flood like that won’t happen for another 500 years. People need more exposure to statistics. Great job!
People have exposure, they’re just too dumb to understand statistics. Schools and universities are in the business of indoctrinating social justice warriors and most of the “teachers” are “diversity” hires that obsesses over gender, fairness , and income redistribution instead of education . 30 per cent of college graduates were unable to name the 2 countries that fought our civil war and 18 per cent could not describe what a civil war is. They were however, proficient at taking selfies, with most of them admitting to taking over 1000 pictures of themselves per year.
@Tracy Lund
yeah's it's not about continually steady likelyhood but over long term averages.
That's what blew people's minds with Fukushima as after Chernobyl numbers like "a 10,000 year occurence" had been thrown around... ignoring that that needs amongst other things to also regard that there were over 350 nuclear reactors on Earth at the time... and that - if you include that in your calculation - a likelyhood to happen only once every 28.6-ish years (as far as we know) doesn't mean you have a guarantee of 28,59 years without incident...
Actually 500 years is not the occurance of the flood or chance of that size flood, its actually about damage similar to the Fujita scale for tornadoes. This video helps explain it better.
th-cam.com/video/EACkiMRT0pc/w-d-xo.html
@@mikecastellon4545 Wow. You really believe all that nonsense, don't you?
I was assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base starting in the fall of 72. While I miss the flood itself I did see the devastating results of the flood. I still remember the bridge on the west side of Rapid City was out for a couple of years after the flood. I also remember how close the floodplain was to the center of town. I think it was only a block away. I really appreciate this video because it gave me some background information about an area that I lived in all the time I was in the Air Force.
I can relate as I arrived at Ellsworth in September 72 and immediately was assigned to help in recovery and clean up efforts for at least a week or 2. I remember the cars stacked up like blocks along St. Joseph street. Entire car dealerships lost inventory mud , mud and more mud and debris everywhere.
My Dad, a civil engineer told me and I have never forgotten, “Never buy or build a house in a flood plain. Its called a flood plain for a reason!”
Building on flood plains is thoroughly stupid, which is why I did due diligence before buying property. I let other people build stupidly. The US is vast. No one NEEDS to live in a flood zone.
(meanwhile in the Netherlands, a few meters below sea-level) "oh."
Luckily, the Dutch have mastered this stuff.
Because it's PLAIN that it FLOODS.
and it`s called "Rapid Creek!!!" for a reason^^
I saw the Missouri River in flood when I was six years old, and after that, I understood what a flood plain was.
In Australia , In 2011 there was a flood on the TOP of the range in Toowoomba, Queensland . MANY people died and it destroyed much property.
In a area that usually suffers from drought. It was highly unusual. Those who died deserve to be remembered.
Very well made and researched! We're relatively new Rapid City residents, but everyone over a certain age in the area has a story of the Flood of 1972. The floodplain is now mostly parks and public spaces. The dog park up west of town along the creek is actually kind of interesting, as you can still see foundations of the houses that were destroyed by the flood, as well as enjoy the lilacs they must have had in their yards, which still grow and bloom in the spring. It's usually one of the first history pieces I'll tell people about the area when they visit, since most people have never heard of it.
i live about 40 miles from johnstown pa and i was 10 at the time of the 77 johnstown flood. i still remember it. we lived in the mountains yet still had 3 feet of water in our basement. it was a terrible tragedy as was this. another super episode, thank you
I arrived in Rapid City in December of 1972, as a new airman assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base. My supervisor had survived the flood and was living in a FEMA trailer. I was single so lived on base, which was just as well, as there was no housing to be had in town.
My father in law, a construction contractor and USAF LtC Reservist, took his boat down to the flooded area and saved many lives that night. Nice synopsis - your videos have come a long way in 3 yrs!
We love the history guy
Good video! I was driving by one of the flood plains in Rapid today that is saturated with water and got to thinking about the flood. Didn't realize that it was the anniversary of it today!
My favorite subject in school was History but never had a teacher like this guy!
You should do one on the 7-31-1976 flash floods in Estes Park Colorado. It was unique because the flood walls were 60 feet high due to the Narrows.
I agree. I was 13 and on a family vacation. We had spent the last month in the Rockies from Alberta to Colorado, and had spent the two days in Estes Park / RMNP area. We left Estes Park in the late afternoon on 7/31 on our way to Ft. Collins where my uncle lived. We exited the canyon maybe around 6 or 7 PM, before the flood hit. We knew nothing about it until later at my uncle's house. If we had been in the canyon when it hit, we would have been very lucky to survive.
Kristina
Hey, right on, I've been suggesting this as well.
I live in Colorado Springs my parents and I we're camping two weeks before the Big Thompson broke and we've had family that were still camping that were on Higher Ground it just demolished everything in its path as it came down into and thru Estes Park.
Horrid tragedy😐
I was 15, on vacation with my family in Colorado and we drove through the valley just a few hours before the flood...yikes!
Rocky Mountain PBS has an excellent documentray about this one TH-cam.
I worked briefly, one year, for a civil engineering firm and I was "the computer guy" and not an engineer but in one year I was lucky that they taught me a great deal about hydrology and it is not only extremely relevant to pretty much everybody everywhere but also is very common sense when you get down to it. Starting with: Water flows downhill. And some gets absorbed by soil and the rest flows more downhill. Whenit runs out of places to go, it collects and builds up and Voila! Flooding! They also taught me that one of the reasons that streets flood is somewhat intentional to a degree. Better to have flooded roads than homes in a subdivision.
This is a great episode and I was not aware of this event until I watched this. Man, what a horrible catastrophe.
History Guy is a solid presenter, does good editing and has great stories. Yay!
Thank you for a very important reminder about flash flooding. I'm in the Texas Hill Country, living at Canyon Lake (sound familiar?). Another viewer commented here about the flash flood in Wimberley Texas, about 15 miles NE of here. He asked you to do a history lesson on the flood in Wimberley. I'll second his nomination.
We also had a flood here below the Canyon Lake Dam. The spillway that was built at the end of the dam did its job by releasing water in Canyon Lake around the dam, preventing the dam from being breached and washed away. The massive amount of water flowing over the spillway washed away millions of years of sedimentary rock exposing a treasure trove of fossils, dinosaur tracks, etc. The "gorge" that was left after the flooding is now a very impressive sight, and popular with tourists and geologists.
My brother in law was a member of the SD National Guard then and was assigned to body recovery immediately after the flood. Many bodies were never found, they were thought to be lost in the huge piles of mud and debris of over 1000 homes and hundreds of businesses that were all washed away. And it was heart breaking that so many of the lost were little children who had gone to sleep thinking they were safe in their beds and woke up to a real life nightmare.
Well said. It is heartbreaking. Have a nice day.
I am so glad l never heard that as a child. I was 10 years old but on the other side of the state.
1938, March. In The City of Sierra Madre, one 24 hour period, it rained over 26 inches and it rained 1 inch in 1 minute in the same time frame. The city held the record in the Continental United States for I think 5 decades. All of Southern California got flooded that year and I think there were over 50 deaths without looking it up. It changed the way our city was built after those floods with cement rivers, dams and debris basins. Maybe down the road in a couple of years, you could do one on this flood and how it affected Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. I have heard of this one before from someone else, but I enjoyed your dialog and angle. Thank you and good job!
I was born and raised in Rapid City and left in 1966. None of my friends or relatives were injured but several lost their homes along the creek. The destruction was more like a very strong tornado rather than a flood. All of the news at that time was about the US armed forces leaving Viet Nam, so most people never heard of the flood despite the 238 dead.
36736fps As a youth in Southern California at the time I heard about the Rapid City flood from the TV news and Time Magazine. The dramatic accounts with video on the evening news were horrific.The destruction and loss of life was shocking and haunts me to this day.
Speaking of news. I remember riding in the trailer court on my bike and someone had kkls on their radio. They played bells all afternoon for the troops coming home from Viet Nam.
I was living outside Washington, DC at the time and we heard about it. The flood was national news!!
The last list was a nice touch. People don't need to be forgotten either...
I was there, truly awful. Thought this was very well done,thank you.
So was I.
Dude, I've been on a binder with your videos. Thanks for your work, keep it up.
I'm pretty sure I just read all the comments so far. I'll throw in my 2 cents. My dad was stationed at Ellsworth outside Rapid City. I was very young. My parents, a neighbor kid and I went fishing somewhere up in the Black Hills late that day, and never got to because the rain started and became so bad. My dad wasn't easily alarmed, but I could tell he and my mom were nervous about the rain. I remember it being deafening on the roof of the car. We worked our way back down, and noticed that a deep ditch on the side of the road that was basically empty when we were traveling toward the lake was now full of water. When we got down into Rapid City, seems like it was raining, but not as crazy as in the hills. We stopped and ate at Shakey's Pizza, and then headed home to Ellsworth. We didn't even know that the flood was more or less pursuing us home. The next morning, some of the men who lived near us who owned boats stopped by and got my dad, and they went to help the flood victims. I remember when he finally arrived home, he took off his ruined, wet shoes and left them by the door. He sat down, disturbed. He had not been back for very long from doing a year in Vietnam, and now this. I remember him sitting silently in his chair, thinking about what he'd seen. His shoes sat by the door for a few days, and I would stare at them and think of what I'd overheard him telling my mom, and all the horror stories neighbor kids were recounting that they'd also heard. It amazes me that I made it to my bed and safety, and had no clue what was happening just a few miles away as I slept. My heart goes out to all affected.
I was a b52 navigator stationed at Ellswoth, 1971 to 1973. My wife and 2 yr old son and I went up to see Wind Cave National Park that morning. She drove our 67 MGB and I drove my motorcycle. After visiting the cave, we stopped for lunch on the way home. We ate under a picnic table because it was raining pretty hard. Driving back north we drove through some places where the highway was flooding, but we made it back to the base OK.
The next morning I got a call and found out about the flood. A group of us went out to do search and rescue. I found a baby in the river caught on a tree branch...an image welded in my mind. Over 200 were lost in the flood if I recall.
trains planes wow, that’s really something! You might enjoy this video about Ellsworth - th-cam.com/video/GugS-prk05w/w-d-xo.html
@@saxon840 Thanks. The video explains why I can't find our house on google earth!
Traveled through Rapid City with my parents on the way to The Black Hills, our trip was almost two years after the flood. It was very sobering to see the damage to buildings, homes and empty areas knowing where homes once stood. Water can do so much damage. May the souls of those lost Rest In Peace.
I walked the length of the flood within Rapid City this morning. Almost all of the affected areas are now city parks, with plaques along the paths commemorating the flood with stories and photos. (While I moved here only eight years ago, at the time of this flood, I was sandbagging the Red River of the North in Fargo.)
the episode you did on “Rocketdine” in the San Fernando Valley ..... thank you again.... my mom was pregnant with my sister that year.... you unknowingly answered many questions for me
I remember this vividly. Our family was there vacationing just weeks later in Custer State Park where so many campers were swept away. A number of good friends went to school there at the School of Mines.
civil engr and hydrology specialty for 55 yrs. very accurate content. i have had 3 i told you so. millions spent defining 100 yr flood zones since.
Accurate? No mention of the weather modification experiments with cloud seeding at this same time.
"Move along folks. Nothing to see here."
History Guy! Love your stuff, keep up the great work! This story made me think of a flooding disaster that happened in my own community, Des Moines, Iowa, where the floods of 1993 caused us to lose our drinking water for two weeks in July '93. From what I understand, we were the biggest city in American history to suffer such a disaster, and it was a unique event worth covering. (hint, hint) Thanks and keep it up!
Excellent presentation. As always.
I'm a Rapid City native and although I wasn't born yet, the flood is something that is still talked about and remembered here. I remember my mother telling me about the flood. She told me that there were several family friends who were staying in her home because they lived on the floodplain and their home was destroyed.
My mother also told me a story of an Air Force family that lived in Dark Canyon at the time. The Air Force husband went home to take the kids and wife to safety, but the wife refused to leave the home and unfortunately, lost her life.
I lived in the Black Hills at the time. I remember it clearly.
I lived through that flood. I remember it was around 10:00 at night when Dad and mom loaded us all up in the car and we went to grandmas house. She lived up a street in a hill and I remember we almost made it to her house before we had to get out and walk because the streets down the hill were washing the cars (including the one we were in ) away. We made it to grandmas house and watched our car slide down the road.
My parents, were at the Canyon Lake Club on the evening of June 9th, 1972, at a Shrine event. Canyon Lake Club sat on the shore of Canyon Lake above the dam, and in order to return to their hotel, the hotel Alex Johnson, they were required to drive over one of the doomed bridges soon to be washed out by the impending breach of Canyon Lake and the torrent that followed. At around 11PM, S.Dakota Highway Patrol interrupted and demanded everyone leave immediately. My father recalled how they passed vehicles stalled along Omaha Street, which parallels Rapid creek, stalled due to motors flooded by water entering their carburetors from tire splash and the heavy rain. Within an hour of returning to the hotel, Canyon Lake had breached and a wall of water had carried away everything five blocks either side of Rapid Creek. I remember mom calling home, a ranch located on the Cheyenne river 120 miles downstream, around 4AM. My parents wanted us to know they (Mom, Dad and sister) were all fine. We had no idea what they were talking about. In 1972, we didn't even have weather radios! For weeks afterwards, debris carried downstream from Pennington County (Rapid City) was deposited along the shores of the Cheyenne river, adjacent to our ranch.
I lived in Hot Springs. I remember our baby-sitter's parents had gone to Rapid City for dinner, and we were listening to the radio for any news. We did not get quite as much rain in the south, but I vividly recall the pounding rain that night.
Hot Springs! I lived in Rapid in the late 70's, had friends with broncos, we saw a lot of damaged cabins along the tributaries around Johnson siding. My mother, who lives in Scottsdale today, remembers looking out her hotel window after the power went out, the only thing she could see was the red glow from lumber yard, on FIRE, talk about weird!
I met my wife in Hot Springs. I still have her after 34 years too. I sure miss the fun times at Evans Plunge too. This was back when it was just a simple pool, not some overdone water park. HG, are you from SD and do you still live there?
I grew up in RPid. As of last year, they were down to only missing two people.
I missed being in the 1972 Flooding in Rapid City. But by September of 72 I was assigned to Ellsworth AFB nearby and one of the first things we did upon arrival was to assist in the recovery efforts. It was an overwhelming job. I remember the cars stacked up on the edge of town at car dealerships and mud and debri everywhere. It took years to recover from this tragedy. This video was very well produced and explained the situation in layman's terms. Well done.
I recommend everyone think of this when they go camping as well. You're in unfamiliar terrain, often in a secluded place. Take a moment to find out what county (USA) you're in and watch for flash flood warnings. Have a plan to get out that takes into consideration the nearest high ground. Could save your life.
With a name like Rapid Creek, who would have known it would rise so quickly?
Yes very good point.
The main part of the flood happened because canyon lake dam broke and let about an 8' wall of water go down the creek. The dam broke because of all the rain in the hill that night and the day before. The Army corp was worried because Pactola dam had cracks in it.Had that broke the wall of water wood have been pert near 100" deep as it wold have went down the canyons. Yes, I was there and lived in the hills for almost 50 yrs.
It's called rapid creek because it's small and quick moving with lots of rocky rapids. Not because it rises rapidly
@@alaskahermithomesteader9549 Maybe watch the video next time. He explains that the amount of water released by the broken dam was a small fraction of the water coming in from other tributaries.
Great bit of history, History Guy!
i lived at Ellsworth AFB from 67 to 71 and left So Dakota to go home to Boston in June of 71. i did miss the flood , but had many good friends still living in Rapid City and around the region. i could not believe it when i read about it the following year. i think back and i could have been in the middle of the flood if i did re up in the Air Force. to this day we talk about the flood and look at the photos from that day. thank you for the informative video. you are truly the "History man".
Reminds me of the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 in Colorado.
I had won contest for selling newspaper subscription and we were in the Black Hills at that time. We went through Rapid City shortly after the flood and as kid and I remember riding around in a station wagon numb with shock at the sight of the devastated city.
Later in college at SDSM&T in RC, a friend of mine, Sandy, spoke of evacuating in chest-deep water, concerned if she and her sister were going to be wept away in the torrent.
A side note, in 1983 my girlfriend Patty and I found the dead body of a 39 year old captain in Air Force, just a few yards away from where the rebuilt Canyon Lake dam is.
Just discovered your channel last week and I too love history! I was 9, and from the eastern side of SD when the flood occurred having just returned from camping in the Hills with my family a mere month before. The local news footage was shocking viewing the remnants of Keystone, and Reptile Gardens. A few years later we returned and the devastation was far worse than I could have imagined. This was indeed a 500-year flood. Ironically I live in Colorado and the Big Thompson Flood in the same era has eery similarities, just on a larger scale.
Congrats on 500k. You are going to keep growing because history is often more incredible than fiction. Thanks for sharing!
My father was on the response team after this flood. Although it was a 500 year flood, shortly after he arrived the rains returned again and the water rose again to nearly the same '500 year' level.
Always enjoy your work History Guy, keep it up
Thanks so much for ending your video w/ a list of those killed in the flood. Enjoying your channel in general.
Living in Austin, Texas l go through flash floods all the time. The power of water is amazing! Not to be trifled with.
Speaking of floods, how about the Molasses flood in Beantown!
majorlee76251
History Guy did an episode of the Molasses Flood, very good, never heard of it until then.
I would love to see a segment on the history of weather forecasting!
For that, read the excellent book
"Isaac's Storm" by Erik Sten. About the Great Galveston storm of 1900, and Much more.
I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB from 99-06, my wife's, born and raised in Rapid, family talks about the flood sometimes, I never knew it was THAT bad.
Thank you for these video's.
I'm from Colorado Springs, and The Big Thompson broke in mid-late 1970's. Our family and friends camped along there two weeks prior yet an Aunt and Uncle were still camping in the area but luckily were higher up.
Have you made a video for this one.
I seem to remember some possible neglect of being unaware of that up, up stream levels were rising because of debris, and rain.
AND finally broke lose on unsuspecting campers and people who had homes Downstream by the rivers it was all demolished.
Thanks again, 👍☺
I was 14 when this happened and while we didn't live in RC, I had 2 uncles/aunts, and boatload of cousins there. All survived. I"ve been to the park in RC that was put in place where the worst of the flood came though, so they are keeping much of it off limits to building. Oh, and History Guy, you look cuter with your hair longer, glad you're letting it grow out now days.
Johnstown has flooded several times, as the town is kind of in a bowl.
I find it ironic this video was uploaded in June of 2017, then just 2 months later, Houston suffers a 500 year flood all through its flood plains which have been significantly build upon.
When my grandpa, dad and uncles built our little house on my grandparent's land, they knew it flooded occasionally. We lived on a farm in a valley with two names Stick Springs and Spook Hollow (pronounced Holla). They elevated it 4 feet above the ground. The pillars cemented into the foundation were thick and sturdy, the rest was left open. A couple of neighbors thought it looked ridiculous. Every spring, a wet weather stream would flow out of the woods, through part of our front yard and snake its way through the valley. One year I woke up in the morning to find water just a couple of inches below the front door. The whole valley was flooded, except for our house and my grandparent's. My dad said as they were helping the neighbors my grandpa said "Ridiculous huh."
I remember this, when my unit flew up there after, seeing all the ruined cars stacked up like cordwood in fields as large as football fields.... so terrible
My father's first duty with the Guards was with the flood of 72. He was right out of Basic. I remember him talking about when I was a kid. I believe he was downtown and they were searching for bodies
This is great. My dad grew up in Nebraska and told me stories of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, how it swept out an area a half mile wide.
I later read that Herbert Hoover successfully directed flood relief operations, which propelled him later into the White House, but at the cost of conscripting many African-Americans to work without pay.
For both reasons, that flood history deserves to be remembered.
"There just aren't enough hearses to go around." - Rapid City Flood Survivor
As a South Dakota resident, you'd think I'd have been told about this at least once. It's very surprising that I've gone this long without hearing about it.
Was just out of the Army, visiting a Army buddy in Fargo when the flood hit. A month or so later was traveling and stayed in a small tourist town being rebuilt from the flood. Made friends with a older guy that posed as a prospector, along with his jack ass. They would charge tourist for photos. Also made friends with several girls that worked at a small restaurant. They all wanted me to stay on and help rebuild. The damage from the flood was unreal. Many times wish I had stayed with them. This video brings back those faces of people that lived through that ordeal.
That was probably Keystone, right?
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered Wish I could remember. Lots of gold was being found that had washed out. But not enough to take time to find. They had to rebuild for the tourist trade, their bread & butter. Wonderful, strong people.
Really love your channel and the tidbits of history!
live in Colorado about a mile away from the nearest little creek that doesn't even have a name, it's only 2.5ft wide and in September of 2013 we got over 10 inches of rainfall in 2 days. That creek became a huge River that destroyed every road it intersected, our neighborhood became an island without clean water, sewage or electricity. It took 4 days for a single road to be opened and power to be restored, we were lucky to have only had a flooded basement :)
Hey History Guy,
Would like to see your take on the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Mind boggling amounts of water, damage, and victims. Basically a rolling wall of water and debris, including miles of barbed wire, Yikes!
Why would you follow this channel and downvote this video, currently 35 people who have done so? Great job history guy
I'm new to your channel.
I LOVE it! Keeping these inside of the time frame you do is absolutely perfect!
Yesterday was the 91st anniversary of the failure of the St. Francis Dam in California, the deadliest dam failure in U.S. history after the 1889 Johnstown Flood. You can do video on that.
Great videos, history is alive!
I was born at Ellsworth Air Force Base one week after this event. My father, an Air Force officer and part of a B-52 crew, was one of the volunteers who went to search for bodies after this was over.
Love this channel, thank you for all the effort!
"The wise man built his house upon the rock" 2000 yo quote.
"Flat ground is flat because the surface of water is flat" Me, 1978.
The Big Thompson Flood is another crazy one, less than 10 years later. Nice video
I think the circumstances were similar to the Rapid City flood. Both were caused by thunderstorms parked over mountainous terrain for hours, dropping torrential rains which had only one place to eventually go.
7:30 *History Guy* we see what you did there
My friend lin was there when this hsppened,himself and a friend took shelter from the flood on a city building rooftop.
He said it was really crazy.
Another great history story, thank you. I left South Dakota in June 1972 for the USAF. I don't even recall this event and it is worth remembering. The folks in the Dakotas don't complain much. Tough, like the territory. Hey how about another topic: Which state was first to be ratified in 1989. The story goes it happened at the same time and the signatory bodies did not know which was which because the covered up the top of the document so neither state could claim who was first, ND or SD. And why were they split like that instead of using the natural boundary of the Missouri River into East and West Dakota?
I don’t think this one was the worst. I’m sure you are aware that Johnstown Pennsylvania has had a few floods. The big one in 1889 took over 2000 lives and caused massive disruption. There was one in the 1936 that was tragic but not super destructive or deadly. In 1977 there were flash flood condition like those described in this piece. That caused millions of dollars of damage and took 84 lives, very simular to the black hills flooding. It would be nice to hear History Guy do a bit on Johnstown. There is a good book by David McCullough on the 1889 flood.
I was 9 years old, my family was on vacation about a month after this flood we drove through Rapid City on our way to Mt. Rushmore.....I still remember fields full of ruined cars, bare house foundations with a house still standing because of a big tree diverting the flow of water, train tracks bent like a coil spring.......that was almost 50 years ago, and I still recall those images
I love history and I love your channel! I wonder if your parents helped influence your love for history? My dad loves history and to tell the stories his father and grandfather told him. I have a feeling your parents were also history buffs. Thanks for the wonderful videos!!
During the flood, Rapid Creek put out as much water per second as half of Niagara Falls
It is always a sad episode when lives are lost and the hero is nameless. Yet in Life that usually is the case. The History Guy succeeded once more to bring us "In A Flash A Flood Of History That Deserves To Be Remembered'." God Bless and thanks to The History Cat for staying dry during this episode. :-)
I remember this. I live in Iowa and the Black Hills are very popular for tourism in the upper midwest. We had a vacation there just the year before. Your assertion that they are made up of many small canyons is spot on.
Hey, History Guy: can you add bow ties with historical themed prints to your store inventory? (And maybe coordinating pocket squares?) That would be SO awesome! Bet they'd sell like hotcakes!
while at it add pancakes and maple syrup, too!
I have a two tragedies I'd love to see you cover.
I'm new to your channel so I apologize if you've already covered these one or both of these: the 1944 Hartford, CT Circus/Bigtop fire and the the 1936 heatwave that killed so many people.
Oh, one more suggestion (not trying to be greedy......but am being so regardless): the NYC Draft Riots in the mid 1800's.
A little grim but that's kinda why the words 'disaster' and 'tragedy' were invented.
I would’ve been about 12 when this happened.. Living in Virginia at the time, I have absolutely no memory of hearing about it whatsoever. Thank you History Guy for your dedication.
My dad was stationed at Ellsworth AFB at this time. But we weren’t in South Dakota when the flash flood hit - we were on vacation in St Louis, MO, visiting family. I was 5 and I remember my dad driving us around Rapid City when we got back. The destruction was devastating - buildings knocked off foundations, cars in trees, tree debris everywhere. It astounded me to see flood debris at the top of tall trees.
An aunt and uncle of mine, along with their young son, lived in Rapid City during the mid-1970s, from about '75 to '77. Sometime in the early Spring of '76, my family and my aunt's family, went to a park there in Rapid City. There were men doing some sort of construction work, like around the banks of a creek, and someone in the group, or it might have just been a stranger nearby, said they were still making repairs from the flood that had taken place a few years earlier. They said how the whole area was completely flooded. I remember having a feeling of almost awe, and horror, that water could do so much damage.
At the time of the flood, I was some 600 miles away traveling to McCook Nebraska with a local RC rock band. We got there around 1am and decided to just park at a rest area and sleep and go to the motel we always stayed at in the morning. We went there around 8am and the lady said after looking at our registration card that there had been a flood in Rapid. We thought not much about it as Spring flooding was an every year event. We went to the rooms and slept for about 3 hours, then Mike and I drove through town to see how many posters for our gig that night were put up. The national news came on the radio and said there were possibly THOUSANDS dead. We were STUNNED! We did not find out about our families for two more days when Mikes dad, who was a NG Colonel was finally able to contact us in Sheridan Wyoming. It was the longest 3 days of our lives.