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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] This 
is a production of

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South Dakota Public 
Broadcasting.

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Program funding is made possible

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with your membership

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and with corporate support from

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Casey Peterson, Financial 
Advisors and CPAs.

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Helping organizations,

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businesses,

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and individuals

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achieve their financial 
goals since 1977.

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And by Rapid City attorney

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Brian Hagg of Hagg 
& Hagg Law Firm

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who characterized 
the flood this way.

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"Out of tragedy came 
a strong resolve

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to rebuild a better Rapid City.

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This is our legacy.

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Support for SDPB Documentaries 
is also provided by

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the Leo P. Flynn Estate,

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Kitty Kinsman and Steve Zellmer

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and by Charles and Kay Riter.

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- [Robb] The Rapid City mayor,

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Don Barnett said 
a few minutes ago,

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that's been about 10:40 PM

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that any citizens living

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on property abutting Rapid Creek

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should leave immediately.

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He said all of those properties

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throughout the city 
should be abandoned.

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The mayor said that to quote,

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"The situation is going 
to get a lot worse

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before it gets better."

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- [Woman Survivor] 
I just remember

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that there wasn't any water

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and then there was.

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(camera snapping)

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- [Man Survivor] It uh...

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it happened so damn fast.

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- [Man Survivor] And just 
literally in seconds,

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the water's up to 
my knees and stuff.

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And the current is so strong.

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We couldn't make it.

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- [Woman Survivor] 
Pretty soon there was

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a great big log came up

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right by the windshield.

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(camera snapping)

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- [Woman Survivor] 
I remember stuff

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coming through this speedometer,

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water coming through 
this speedometer

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and it opened up the,

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the glove compartment.

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And you know all 
of the, the radio.

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- [Man Survivor] There was 
no swimming that night,

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I'm telling you were just 
moving with the current.

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And as fast as you were 
moving in the current

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things were going by you

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like ruptured propane tanks.

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Well when they hit something,

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they would explode like a bomb.

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- [Man Survivor] 
And you could hear

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from where we were

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people screaming

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and the river running 
and this and that.

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And then pretty soon,

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they wouldn't scream anymore.

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- [Man Survivor] There 
was a great big chunk

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of the roof hanging up

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in a Cottonwood tree about

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a quarter of a 
mile East of here.

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And we measured it

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and it measured 27 feet

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from that piece of roof

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down to the crick bottom.

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So that's how deep the water got

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coming through this area here.

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- [Man Survivor] I 
looked ahead and,

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and I thought,

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"My God, that's a house

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coming down the road.

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How can there be a 
house in the road?"

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- [Man Survivor] 
Two story houses

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were floating like a cork.

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Just bobbed away.

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- [Man Survivor] Lots and lots

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of thunder and lightning

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and people screaming 
and yelling,

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"Help, help!"

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And there's no way 
you could help 'em.

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(camera snapping)

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- [Man Survivor] It looked 
like it'd been hit by bombs.

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- [Man Survivor] 
There was just not

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a single board 
left of the house.

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- [Man Survivor] The magnitude,

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I didn't have a clue

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there were gonna be 230 plus

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people die.

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- [Man Survivor] Terrible, 
terrible experiences.

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Finding people that's just 
like picking up jello.

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They were so broke 
up from the water,

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just beating them up.

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- [Man Survivor] It 
was almost like well,

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I don't know.

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Like death was hanging 
over the whole area.

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(dramatic piano music)

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- [Narrator] Friday 
June 9th, 1972.

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An air mass pushes 
up the Eastern slopes

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of South Dakota's Black Hills.

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Powerful thunderstorms develop,

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winds are weak

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so the storms hover 
over the mountains.

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Some locations receive

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15 inches of rain in six hours.

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Flood warnings are issued,

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but no one comprehends the scale

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of what's about to happen.

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A flood surge,

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like a liquid 
avalanche rolls down

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Rapid Creek toward Rapid City.

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50 years ago one of the nation's

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deadliest natural 
disasters begins.

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Around 9:00 PM rain is falling

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and the water is 
rising in Rapid Creek.

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29 year old Rapid City Mayor.

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Don Barnett is on 
the city's West side,

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monitoring the situation.

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- I had not put the 
warning out yet.

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And I went to the upper 
levels of Canyon Lake,

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where there was an 
old wooden bridge

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that crossed at the 
very top of Canyon Lake.

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And it was about 300 yards

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downstream from 
the fish hatchery.

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And I pulled off 
the side of the road

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and I saw a crew from 
Montana Dakota Utilities,

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and they were pulling on

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a industrial size wrench

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trying to get the 
natural gas service,

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which was attached to that 
old wooden rotten bridge.

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And so the manager 
of the gas company,

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George Miller ran over,

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he said,

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"Come on mayor,

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give us a hand!"

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So I stepped out 
willing to help.

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And I would say 
within five seconds,

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I was wet from 
the top of my head

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to the bottom of my toes.

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And we reached over there

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and it was about a six 
or seven foot wrench,

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and we all pulled on it

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and we heard the,

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"Crunch, crunch, crunch."

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And within about a minute,

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we had that gas 
line blocked off.

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And we looked up and 
saw this small car.

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It was rolling in the creek

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and going up and 
down and underwater.

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And it looked to be in terrible,

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terrible danger.

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And George said,

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"My goodness Don,

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I hope nobody's in that car."

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And then the car hit 
the wooden bridge

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and went under

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and got blocked with something.

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And a few minutes later,

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we were standing there

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the crew was ready to move on

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to the next challenge.

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And George said,

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"My goodness Don,

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somebody could get 
killed in this thing."

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And then I heard this crunch

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and the bridge imploded

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and floated into the 
middle of Canyon Lake.

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And I looked at George,

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I said,

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"I'm gonna find a phone

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and put out the 
warning right now.

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- [Narrator] Captain 
James Whitehead

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is sent West of Rapid City

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after a day of training

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with the National Guard.

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- [James] We were down at

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the Daisy Dell Drive In

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for supper that night

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when it started raining.

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And when I got home,

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it was all over 
the radio that uh,

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we were supposed to report

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to our duty station.

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They dispatched another,

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major and I.

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I was a captain at the time,

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up to Johnson sighting to see

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what the weather 
was like up there.

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And we got down this far

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on 44 where the 
water was running

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across the road from 
that other canyon there.

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So we couldn't even 
go any further.

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And then there was 
an older couple,

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would've been about 50 yards

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from where we left him

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and they were just 
standing out there

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and the water was 
about chest high then.

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And so I helped them 
get into a tree.

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And I figured it was about time

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for me to get into a tree.

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So I got up into one of 
these big Oak trees here

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and pretty dark.

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And all of a sudden,

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something hit the,

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hit the tree.

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And it was a house 
that floated down

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and hit the tree.

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And...

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I thought,

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"Whoa boy you know,

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it was really,

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I could feel the roots popping.

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And while I was in the tree,

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I'd just shake the 
tree every time

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one of them big 
roots would break.

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And I thought, 
(chuckling)

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"Well if this tree goes over,

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the only choice is to jump

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00:07:53,433 --> 00:07:54,566
on the roof of the house

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and see what 
happens after that."

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But...

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it held and uh,

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and then the water you know,

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it just kept going

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00:08:02,966 --> 00:08:04,433
and it was just so noisy.

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You couldn't hear somebody,

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But I seen propane tanks,

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semis going down through here,

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houses...

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whenever the lightning

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00:08:11,733 --> 00:08:14,166
would light it up to 
where you could see.

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And it was just,

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it was really terrible.

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- [Narrator] Teenager 
Robbie Corner

242
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is out with friends,

243
00:08:21,433 --> 00:08:23,300
looking at flood damage.

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00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:25,833
When they return to his 
mother's creekside home

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00:08:25,833 --> 00:08:28,233
on the city's far Western edge,

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00:08:28,233 --> 00:08:29,433
they find it surrounded

247
00:08:29,433 --> 00:08:31,300
by fast moving water.

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- So we stood there and debated,

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you know should we try

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to get to the house?

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But about that point...

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houses started washing by

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where we were standing there

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and propane tanks.

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And propane tanks were

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00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,800
hitting trees and exploding.

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And people were on the roof,

258
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roofs of the houses 
that were floating by

259
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and they were screaming.

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Um...

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And so you know,

262
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we could just see there's,

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there's no way 
we're gonna be able

264
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to get to the house

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00:08:57,666 --> 00:08:58,933
and hoped that they had

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gotten out of there 
while we were gone.

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The water was just washing

268
00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:04,766
over the highway down here.

269
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It was coming out of 
Nameless Cave Road

270
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and that canyon,

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and it was just 
like pouring over

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the highway 
embankment right here,

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down into this canyon.

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And I can,

275
00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:17,533
I can remember that it

276
00:09:17,533 --> 00:09:18,800
sounded like a freight train.

277
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,300
I mean you couldn't just 
talk in a normal voice.

278
00:09:21,300 --> 00:09:22,300
You had to like yell

279
00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:24,733
because that was so loud.

280
00:09:24,733 --> 00:09:26,433
And uh...

281
00:09:26,433 --> 00:09:27,533
so before too long,

282
00:09:27,533 --> 00:09:29,700
some National Guard

283
00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:31,766
were going up the highway there.

284
00:09:31,766 --> 00:09:33,966
And I guess,

285
00:09:33,966 --> 00:09:35,200
we were yelling at 'em

286
00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:37,066
to see if there's 
any way they could,

287
00:09:37,066 --> 00:09:38,033
you know do something

288
00:09:38,033 --> 00:09:39,033
to see if my mom

289
00:09:39,033 --> 00:09:40,866
and my neighbors had escaped.

290
00:09:40,866 --> 00:09:43,766
And they said there was 
nothing they could do.

291
00:09:43,766 --> 00:09:45,166
And they also told us

292
00:09:45,166 --> 00:09:46,066
we couldn't stay there

293
00:09:46,066 --> 00:09:47,966
where we were standing.

294
00:09:47,966 --> 00:09:49,533
And so we put up an argument,

295
00:09:49,533 --> 00:09:51,266
but they basically 
just grabbed us

296
00:09:51,266 --> 00:09:53,133
and hauled us up the hill

297
00:09:53,133 --> 00:09:58,133
and the house which is 
now Mid-State Camper Sales

298
00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:00,066
was owned then by a family

299
00:10:00,066 --> 00:10:01,900
by the name of Paseka.

300
00:10:01,900 --> 00:10:04,500
And so they took 
us up to that house

301
00:10:04,500 --> 00:10:05,366
and all night long

302
00:10:05,366 --> 00:10:06,300
they were bringing in

303
00:10:06,300 --> 00:10:07,700
other people into that house.

304
00:10:09,100 --> 00:10:11,033
- [Narrator] Dave 
Baumberger was moving items

305
00:10:11,033 --> 00:10:13,266
out of his father's 
low lying home,

306
00:10:13,266 --> 00:10:14,566
along Rapid Creek.

307
00:10:15,533 --> 00:10:17,100
- [Dave] And we came in,

308
00:10:17,100 --> 00:10:18,333
my dad,

309
00:10:18,333 --> 00:10:21,000
and a old friend of 
the family and me

310
00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:21,933
and we walked in

311
00:10:21,933 --> 00:10:23,466
and we walked to the house

312
00:10:23,466 --> 00:10:24,700
and we started getting

313
00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:26,800
some stuff out of the house.

314
00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,333
And the water 
started coming up in

315
00:10:30,500 --> 00:10:34,533
higher than we were 
comfortable with.

316
00:10:34,533 --> 00:10:36,500
And we decided we 
should get out.

317
00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:38,833
And there was a neighbor family

318
00:10:38,833 --> 00:10:40,100
next to my folks

319
00:10:41,033 --> 00:10:42,733
that uh...

320
00:10:42,733 --> 00:10:44,333
Had three boys

321
00:10:44,333 --> 00:10:46,533
and the mother and father.

322
00:10:46,533 --> 00:10:49,433
And there was a lady across,

323
00:10:49,433 --> 00:10:50,633
they lived on a small

324
00:10:50,633 --> 00:10:52,500
cul-de-sac with four houses.

325
00:10:53,566 --> 00:10:55,400
There was a lady across

326
00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:56,966
that was left there too.

327
00:10:56,966 --> 00:10:57,766
And...

328
00:10:58,800 --> 00:10:59,800
we tried to walk out

329
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:01,233
and the water was coming up

330
00:11:01,233 --> 00:11:02,966
too fast to get walked out.

331
00:11:02,966 --> 00:11:05,133
So we decided we'd go 
to the highest house,

332
00:11:05,133 --> 00:11:06,366
which was uh...

333
00:11:06,366 --> 00:11:08,933
the lady across the...

334
00:11:08,933 --> 00:11:10,400
cul-de-sac.

335
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:12,233
And we got in the house

336
00:11:12,233 --> 00:11:13,100
and...

337
00:11:13,100 --> 00:11:15,366
we were waiting for

338
00:11:15,366 --> 00:11:16,700
a rescue or whatever.

339
00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:17,533
I don't know.

340
00:11:17,533 --> 00:11:18,466
But anyway,

341
00:11:18,466 --> 00:11:19,700
the water kept coming up and up.

342
00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:22,066
And when the refrigerator

343
00:11:22,066 --> 00:11:24,300
started floating in the kitchen,

344
00:11:24,300 --> 00:11:27,600
we found a way to 
get into the attic.

345
00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,300
And we got up into the 
attic of the house.

346
00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:31,733
The water was coming up

347
00:11:31,733 --> 00:11:34,200
in three or four foot...

348
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,466
increments at a time.

349
00:11:36,466 --> 00:11:39,900
It wasn't just a 
steady, slow rise.

350
00:11:39,900 --> 00:11:40,733
So...

351
00:11:41,766 --> 00:11:43,133
eventually the house

352
00:11:43,133 --> 00:11:45,300
started shifting 
off the foundation

353
00:11:45,300 --> 00:11:47,433
and started breaking apart.

354
00:11:47,433 --> 00:11:49,966
And we were all in the 
attic at that time.

355
00:11:49,966 --> 00:11:52,800
And the roof broke apart.

356
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,333
And...

357
00:11:54,333 --> 00:11:55,800
to be honest with you,

358
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:57,800
I don't know what happened 
with everybody else.

359
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,966
I got out through the 
fracture in the roof.

360
00:12:01,966 --> 00:12:03,166
I got out of the house

361
00:12:03,166 --> 00:12:05,100
and I got carried by the water

362
00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:07,166
down to the...

363
00:12:07,166 --> 00:12:08,600
lake shore.

364
00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:10,233
And I got hung up in a tree.

365
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,233
And so I stayed in the tree

366
00:12:14,233 --> 00:12:16,800
until the tree next to me,

367
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:17,633
tipped over.

368
00:12:18,533 --> 00:12:20,300
And the lightning was flashing

369
00:12:20,300 --> 00:12:22,133
bright enough that night,

370
00:12:22,133 --> 00:12:23,600
that it just lit everything up

371
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,466
like daylight when it did flash.

372
00:12:26,333 --> 00:12:27,466
And I...

373
00:12:27,466 --> 00:12:28,733
in one of the 
flashes of lightning,

374
00:12:28,733 --> 00:12:31,200
there was a big inner 
tube come floating by

375
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:32,366
and I made a jump for it.

376
00:12:32,366 --> 00:12:33,200
Cause I figured,

377
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:34,033
"Well my tree's next.

378
00:12:34,033 --> 00:12:35,533
If that tree went."

379
00:12:35,533 --> 00:12:37,000
And I missed it.

380
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:38,300
And I got out in the lake

381
00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:41,633
and I was swimming to the shore

382
00:12:41,633 --> 00:12:44,033
and I'm guessing I was maybe

383
00:12:44,033 --> 00:12:46,233
20 to 25 feet off shore.

384
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,366
And...

385
00:12:48,366 --> 00:12:49,466
the dam broke.

386
00:12:50,633 --> 00:12:52,033
- [Narrator] The Canyon Lake Dam

387
00:12:52,033 --> 00:12:53,466
holds back Rapid Creek

388
00:12:53,466 --> 00:12:55,633
on the city's West side.

389
00:12:55,633 --> 00:12:57,633
Stream gauges above the lake

390
00:12:57,633 --> 00:13:01,800
record a rise of 13 
feet in four hours.

391
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,800
At about 10:45 PM the 
Canyon Lake Dam ruptures,

392
00:13:07,666 --> 00:13:09,400
Dave Baumberger is in the lake,

393
00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:11,233
when it happens.

394
00:13:11,233 --> 00:13:12,066
- [Dave] I knew because

395
00:13:12,066 --> 00:13:13,233
the way the water went.

396
00:13:13,233 --> 00:13:17,100
The water just 
started rushing out.

397
00:13:17,100 --> 00:13:18,000
I mean,

398
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,366
immediately.

399
00:13:19,366 --> 00:13:21,500
So I went down

400
00:13:21,500 --> 00:13:24,233
and through where the 
dam was in the spillway.

401
00:13:24,233 --> 00:13:25,066
And...

402
00:13:26,900 --> 00:13:27,733
I don't know.

403
00:13:27,733 --> 00:13:28,566
I was swimming,

404
00:13:28,566 --> 00:13:29,800
but I was,

405
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,133
I didn't know if I was 
swimming up or down.

406
00:13:31,133 --> 00:13:31,966
Half the time,

407
00:13:31,966 --> 00:13:32,966
to be honest with you.

408
00:13:33,900 --> 00:13:35,033
And...

409
00:13:35,033 --> 00:13:36,200
after that,

410
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,066
I just started 
bouncing off stuff,

411
00:13:39,066 --> 00:13:41,633
going down downstream.

412
00:13:41,633 --> 00:13:44,000
And I wound up down

413
00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,600
close to where the mortuary is

414
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,100
on Jackson Boulevard.

415
00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:50,800
- [Narrator] About a mile 
downstream of the dam,

416
00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,900
pastor Ron Masters 
and his wife LaVonne

417
00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:55,233
are preparing to evacuate

418
00:13:55,233 --> 00:13:56,833
with their five children.

419
00:13:56,833 --> 00:13:58,866
Including their oldest 
daughter, Karen.

420
00:14:00,300 --> 00:14:01,733
- Well when we decided to leave,

421
00:14:01,733 --> 00:14:03,600
there was water 
gushing downstairs.

422
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:04,833
- Yeah. 
- Yeah.

423
00:14:04,833 --> 00:14:06,033
- [Karen] Don't 
you remember that?

424
00:14:06,033 --> 00:14:07,233
- [Ron] Right. 
- [LaVonne] Yeah.

425
00:14:07,233 --> 00:14:08,033
- [Ron] It was coming 
into our basement

426
00:14:08,033 --> 00:14:08,833
and we had a Mercury

427
00:14:08,833 --> 00:14:11,233
and then we had a 65

428
00:14:12,333 --> 00:14:14,033
International four wheel drive,

429
00:14:14,033 --> 00:14:15,266
and I said,

430
00:14:15,266 --> 00:14:16,566
"Let's take the 
four wheel drive."

431
00:14:16,566 --> 00:14:17,566
So we got out

432
00:14:17,566 --> 00:14:18,500
and got in it

433
00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:19,933
and then came across the,

434
00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:22,300
just across the bridge

435
00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:23,733
and the current caught us,

436
00:14:23,733 --> 00:14:25,000
if we'd have had another, 
- The first wall

437
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,200
of water came.

438
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:27,800
- If we'd have had another...

439
00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:30,033
15 seconds. 
- Yeah.

440
00:14:30,033 --> 00:14:32,666
- Or less we'd have 
been ahead of it.

441
00:14:32,666 --> 00:14:34,566
But the first wall 
of water caught us

442
00:14:34,566 --> 00:14:35,833
and swept us right across,

443
00:14:35,833 --> 00:14:37,366
over here in the trees,

444
00:14:37,366 --> 00:14:38,833
right over there.

445
00:14:38,833 --> 00:14:40,333
- [Karen] The picture 
doesn't show it real well,

446
00:14:40,333 --> 00:14:41,933
but we were kind of backed 
up against three trees.

447
00:14:41,933 --> 00:14:43,133
- [Ron] Yes.

448
00:14:43,133 --> 00:14:44,233
The back bumper. 
- [Karen] That's why

449
00:14:44,233 --> 00:14:45,166
I think... 
- [Ron] the tree...

450
00:14:45,166 --> 00:14:46,466
- [Karen] That's why I think

451
00:14:46,466 --> 00:14:47,133
we didn't get... 
- [Ron] But that tree held it.

452
00:14:47,133 --> 00:14:48,066
It was about,

453
00:14:48,066 --> 00:14:49,300
that much of the back bumper

454
00:14:49,300 --> 00:14:50,700
that kept us

455
00:14:50,700 --> 00:14:52,066
forced between these two trees.

456
00:14:52,066 --> 00:14:53,800
- You know what's 
interesting though.

457
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:54,900
I just wanna say,

458
00:14:54,900 --> 00:14:56,233
in our vehicle,

459
00:14:56,233 --> 00:14:57,166
there was peace.

460
00:14:58,500 --> 00:14:59,333
We all...

461
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:02,133
were telling each other

462
00:15:02,133 --> 00:15:03,533
that we loved each other.

463
00:15:03,533 --> 00:15:04,466
And we all thought we were

464
00:15:04,466 --> 00:15:06,366
gonna be in heaven together

465
00:15:06,366 --> 00:15:07,200
was what we thought,

466
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:08,033
because we thought there

467
00:15:08,033 --> 00:15:09,066
was no way to get out.

468
00:15:09,066 --> 00:15:10,100
And then dad just felt

469
00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:11,466
really prompted to move and,

470
00:15:11,466 --> 00:15:13,300
and get some of us out.

471
00:15:13,300 --> 00:15:14,933
- Because I had in the vehicle,

472
00:15:14,933 --> 00:15:17,066
I had my nose to 
the ceiling already.

473
00:15:17,066 --> 00:15:18,233
And I said to God,

474
00:15:18,233 --> 00:15:19,433
I said,

475
00:15:19,433 --> 00:15:20,733
"God, are you threw 
really through with me,

476
00:15:20,733 --> 00:15:23,300
is this time for 
me to come home?"

477
00:15:23,300 --> 00:15:24,333
- And it was about then

478
00:15:24,333 --> 00:15:26,300
that Jonathan or Steven,

479
00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:28,300
our oldest son

480
00:15:28,300 --> 00:15:30,500
said to his dad,

481
00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:31,433
he said,

482
00:15:31,433 --> 00:15:34,600
"Dad this is all in God's hands.

483
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,433
- And that's the last 
word we heard him say.

484
00:15:36,433 --> 00:15:38,466
- And then Jonathan said to me,

485
00:15:38,466 --> 00:15:39,466
he said,

486
00:15:39,466 --> 00:15:41,800
"I just love you so much."

487
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,500
- Oh, he came up and 
hugged your neck.

488
00:15:43,500 --> 00:15:44,300
- Yeah.

489
00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:45,133
- Yeah.

490
00:15:45,133 --> 00:15:46,133
And I uh...

491
00:15:46,133 --> 00:15:47,266
that's when I,

492
00:15:47,266 --> 00:15:48,200
when I said,

493
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:49,133
"God, are you through with me?"

494
00:15:49,133 --> 00:15:50,466
That's when I just started

495
00:15:50,466 --> 00:15:52,666
acting without thinking,

496
00:15:52,666 --> 00:15:53,500
I...

497
00:15:53,500 --> 00:15:54,433
it was just like,

498
00:15:54,433 --> 00:15:55,400
everything was automatic then.

499
00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:56,700
That's when I let my legs

500
00:15:57,633 --> 00:15:59,500
float up over LaVonne

501
00:15:59,500 --> 00:16:00,866
and kicked the window

502
00:16:00,866 --> 00:16:01,900
on the opposite side

503
00:16:01,900 --> 00:16:02,733
where I was sitting

504
00:16:02,733 --> 00:16:04,166
and then was able to

505
00:16:04,166 --> 00:16:05,333
get out through that,

506
00:16:05,333 --> 00:16:07,800
reached out and pulled her out

507
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:09,500
and then reached in for Karen.

508
00:16:10,966 --> 00:16:12,700
- [Narrator] While Ron is 
pulling 14 year old Karen

509
00:16:12,700 --> 00:16:14,166
out of the vehicle.

510
00:16:14,166 --> 00:16:15,500
The raging current sweeps

511
00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:17,500
two year old Timothy away.

512
00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,200
- And that was because 
I was holding him

513
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:21,166
when I got pulled out.

514
00:16:21,166 --> 00:16:23,200
- And he was just two.

515
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,933
- So he was two and a half. 
- Yeah.

516
00:16:24,933 --> 00:16:25,833
- He was my buddy.

517
00:16:27,066 --> 00:16:28,633
We were buds. 
- Yeah.

518
00:16:28,633 --> 00:16:29,900
And I lost him.

519
00:16:29,900 --> 00:16:31,900
- [Narrator] Water 
covers their car,

520
00:16:31,900 --> 00:16:34,066
Ron, LaVonne and Karen struggle

521
00:16:34,066 --> 00:16:35,733
to survive in the roiling

522
00:16:35,733 --> 00:16:37,666
debris filled current.

523
00:16:37,666 --> 00:16:39,500
They fear the other children,

524
00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:42,033
Joanne, Stephen and Jonathan

525
00:16:42,033 --> 00:16:43,533
have not survived.

526
00:16:43,533 --> 00:16:45,233
- Once I got out of the vehicle.

527
00:16:45,233 --> 00:16:46,433
- Yep.

528
00:16:46,433 --> 00:16:48,200
I had LaVonne where 
I held onto her

529
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,000
with one arm like this

530
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:51,833
from about 10:30 at night,

531
00:16:51,833 --> 00:16:54,100
till four o'clock 
in the morning.

532
00:16:54,100 --> 00:16:55,333
Just hung on.

533
00:16:55,333 --> 00:16:56,266
- [LaVonne] And I 
had a hold of...

534
00:16:56,266 --> 00:16:57,066
- [Ron] She had a hold...

535
00:16:57,066 --> 00:16:58,533
- [LaVonne] Branch...

536
00:16:58,533 --> 00:16:59,333
- [Ron] Branch of the... 
- [LaVonne] Up above my head

537
00:16:59,333 --> 00:17:00,333
tree and she said to me

538
00:17:00,333 --> 00:17:01,133
several times in the night,

539
00:17:01,133 --> 00:17:01,800
"Honey, just let me go."

540
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:02,733
And I said,

541
00:17:02,733 --> 00:17:04,033
"I'm not gonna let you go."

542
00:17:04,033 --> 00:17:05,266
And it was, 
- I was getting so tired.

543
00:17:05,266 --> 00:17:06,400
oh, miraculous the way 
I could hang on to her.

544
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,133
And Karen was like,

545
00:17:08,133 --> 00:17:09,533
right where she is now,

546
00:17:09,533 --> 00:17:10,666
she was hanging on.

547
00:17:10,666 --> 00:17:12,466
- I climbed a little tree

548
00:17:12,466 --> 00:17:14,133
that was there. 
- She found a little tree

549
00:17:14,133 --> 00:17:16,066
was being protected

550
00:17:16,066 --> 00:17:18,300
by one of these big ones.

551
00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:19,933
And it, so the water kind of

552
00:17:19,933 --> 00:17:21,900
swirled around her this way.

553
00:17:23,300 --> 00:17:26,433
- [Narrator] Rapid Creek 
continues its swollen rampage.

554
00:17:26,433 --> 00:17:28,033
Knocking out electrical power

555
00:17:28,033 --> 00:17:31,000
and throwing flood 
victims into darkness.

556
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,933
Tom Haggerty is in bed 
at his parents' home.

557
00:17:33,933 --> 00:17:36,133
- [Tom] My dad 
started yelling for me

558
00:17:36,133 --> 00:17:38,066
at like one in the morning,

559
00:17:38,066 --> 00:17:39,300
got me out bed.

560
00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:40,500
And uh...

561
00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:42,566
we lived on

562
00:17:42,566 --> 00:17:44,733
Lanark Road which is about a

563
00:17:44,733 --> 00:17:46,466
not a full block from where

564
00:17:46,466 --> 00:17:50,666
the main force of the 
water came through.

565
00:17:50,666 --> 00:17:52,400
And the water was hitting

566
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,100
the front of our house.

567
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:55,033
And it was,

568
00:17:55,033 --> 00:17:56,300
there was so much pressure

569
00:17:56,300 --> 00:17:59,266
that it was raising 
our garage doors.

570
00:17:59,266 --> 00:18:01,633
So my dad had me come out

571
00:18:01,633 --> 00:18:05,966
and help him tie down 
the garage doors.

572
00:18:05,966 --> 00:18:10,733
When we opened the ground 
level door from the garage

573
00:18:10,733 --> 00:18:12,233
about a foot and a half of water

574
00:18:12,233 --> 00:18:14,200
came falling into the house.

575
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,266
Anyway we closed up 
the garage doors.

576
00:18:17,266 --> 00:18:19,000
There was not any light.

577
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,233
I mean you know,

578
00:18:20,233 --> 00:18:22,000
if you've been in a cave

579
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,066
and you know what it's like

580
00:18:23,066 --> 00:18:24,333
when they turn off the lights,

581
00:18:24,333 --> 00:18:27,600
that's what it was 
like that night.

582
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:28,833
Except there was this,

583
00:18:28,833 --> 00:18:32,400
this huge sound 
of water rushing.

584
00:18:33,566 --> 00:18:35,766
And I mean it was 
just like this roar.

585
00:18:35,766 --> 00:18:38,066
And we went out 
on our back porch

586
00:18:38,066 --> 00:18:39,500
since the water was going around

587
00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:41,466
both sides of our house.

588
00:18:41,466 --> 00:18:43,966
And it was probably 
a couple feet deep.

589
00:18:43,966 --> 00:18:46,566
And so we were on our back porch

590
00:18:46,566 --> 00:18:49,400
and in our backyard is a pond,

591
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,133
it's still there today.

592
00:18:51,133 --> 00:18:52,433
Well the water was running

593
00:18:52,433 --> 00:18:56,266
straight back down 
behind our house.

594
00:18:56,266 --> 00:18:58,433
And it was very eerie

595
00:18:58,433 --> 00:18:59,366
because you could hear

596
00:18:59,366 --> 00:19:01,633
people screaming for help

597
00:19:01,633 --> 00:19:02,700
as they floated by.

598
00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:04,466
But I couldn't see...

599
00:19:04,466 --> 00:19:05,300
you.

600
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:06,533
I mean it was so dark.

601
00:19:06,533 --> 00:19:07,600
It was,

602
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:08,900
you couldn't see anything

603
00:19:08,900 --> 00:19:11,166
past the length of your arm.

604
00:19:11,166 --> 00:19:13,800
Occasionally there'd 
be lightning strikes,

605
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,366
but even that you couldn't see

606
00:19:15,366 --> 00:19:17,400
cause the clouds were so thick.

607
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:18,466
And uh...

608
00:19:18,466 --> 00:19:19,800
Anyway I sat there with,

609
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,200
stood there with my dad

610
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,333
and my neighbor Fuzz Ewing

611
00:19:23,333 --> 00:19:26,100
and talking about 
what could we do

612
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:27,833
to help these people 
that we had heard

613
00:19:27,833 --> 00:19:29,400
screaming floating past

614
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,300
and we didn't have a rope.

615
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:33,433
We couldn't see anything.

616
00:19:34,533 --> 00:19:36,733
It would've been suicide 
to try to go down

617
00:19:36,733 --> 00:19:38,933
and you'd never found 
the people, anyway.

618
00:19:38,933 --> 00:19:41,766
So it was just a 
horrible situation.

619
00:19:43,633 --> 00:19:45,500
- [Narrator] Just 
west of downtown,

620
00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:47,600
surging floodwater 
from Rapid Creek

621
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,100
rises around a car filled 
with six teenagers.

622
00:19:51,100 --> 00:19:52,400
They pull into a parking lot

623
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,600
near the multi-story 
Rushmore building,

624
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:56,233
looking for protection.

625
00:19:56,233 --> 00:19:57,900
- As soon as we stop the car

626
00:19:57,900 --> 00:20:00,033
behind Payless shoe store,

627
00:20:00,033 --> 00:20:02,800
Kay just instantly 
jumps outta the car

628
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,000
and takes off running

629
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,800
to the Rushmore building.

630
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,233
And there was fire escape 
ladders in the back.

631
00:20:08,233 --> 00:20:10,233
- And I just ran you know,

632
00:20:10,233 --> 00:20:12,600
I saw the fire escape 
and it was like,

633
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:13,966
"Well that's off the ground,

634
00:20:13,966 --> 00:20:15,700
fire escape it's safe."

635
00:20:15,700 --> 00:20:17,333
- And she made it and I said,

636
00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:18,900
"Let's go!

637
00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:21,466
And just literally in seconds,

638
00:20:21,466 --> 00:20:23,666
the water's up to 
my knees and stuff.

639
00:20:23,666 --> 00:20:25,500
And the current is so strong.

640
00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:26,733
We couldn't make it.

641
00:20:26,733 --> 00:20:28,200
- So I got over here 
and got up there.

642
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,500
Well then I was 
hollering at em',

643
00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:31,733
you know and,

644
00:20:31,733 --> 00:20:34,500
but it was getting loud by then.

645
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:36,400
And um...

646
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,266
I uh you know,

647
00:20:38,266 --> 00:20:39,533
said...

648
00:20:39,533 --> 00:20:40,833
was motioning and 
hollering you know,

649
00:20:40,833 --> 00:20:41,766
"Come over!"

650
00:20:42,733 --> 00:20:44,233
You know, "Come over here."

651
00:20:44,233 --> 00:20:45,200
And uh...

652
00:20:47,233 --> 00:20:48,266
Ed.

653
00:20:48,266 --> 00:20:49,900
The other gentleman

654
00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:52,366
that had gotten in the 
car with Gayle and I,

655
00:20:52,366 --> 00:20:55,000
he tried to bring 
Gale over to me.

656
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,933
But by that time the 
water was too swift.

657
00:20:57,933 --> 00:20:59,566
They couldn't get through.

658
00:20:59,566 --> 00:21:01,166
So they went back over.

659
00:21:01,166 --> 00:21:03,066
Were attempting to get up

660
00:21:03,066 --> 00:21:05,833
on top of the roof when

661
00:21:05,833 --> 00:21:07,300
the wall of water came.

662
00:21:07,300 --> 00:21:08,300
- So we're back there,

663
00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:10,333
we're looking for a tree

664
00:21:10,333 --> 00:21:13,000
or anything that 
we can get up on.

665
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,266
And then I spot 
some plumbing pipes

666
00:21:15,266 --> 00:21:18,400
coming outta the top 
corner of the building.

667
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:19,333
And I said,

668
00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:21,266
"You know I can get in my car

669
00:21:21,266 --> 00:21:22,433
and I'll pull it up next

670
00:21:22,433 --> 00:21:24,066
to the side of the building.

671
00:21:24,066 --> 00:21:26,333
Then I can jump up on the roof

672
00:21:26,333 --> 00:21:27,666
and I can grab those pipes

673
00:21:27,666 --> 00:21:29,566
and I'll pull you guys all up."

674
00:21:29,566 --> 00:21:31,366
Well as soon as I 
went over the car

675
00:21:31,366 --> 00:21:33,733
and opened up the car door,

676
00:21:33,733 --> 00:21:35,133
I looked up and the back wall

677
00:21:35,133 --> 00:21:37,333
of the building blew out.

678
00:21:37,333 --> 00:21:39,500
- [Narrator] Ed Healy 
and Gayle Nemeti

679
00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:40,700
are standing near the wall

680
00:21:40,700 --> 00:21:42,166
when it blows out,

681
00:21:42,166 --> 00:21:44,133
their bodies are found later.

682
00:21:44,133 --> 00:21:46,633
- I saw the wall come down,

683
00:21:46,633 --> 00:21:48,333
you know wash out

684
00:21:48,333 --> 00:21:50,500
and take,

685
00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:51,933
Ed and Gayle where...

686
00:21:51,933 --> 00:21:54,233
he was trying to 
help her up there.

687
00:21:54,233 --> 00:21:55,933
And um...

688
00:21:55,933 --> 00:21:57,533
I saw them

689
00:21:57,533 --> 00:21:59,233
and um...

690
00:21:59,233 --> 00:22:01,233
shoe boxes,

691
00:22:01,233 --> 00:22:03,266
the inside of the 
building, you know?

692
00:22:06,666 --> 00:22:08,000
And so then I ran up.

693
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:08,933
That's when,

694
00:22:08,933 --> 00:22:11,733
that's when I ran from here

695
00:22:11,733 --> 00:22:12,966
up to the next one,

696
00:22:12,966 --> 00:22:14,933
cause I couldn't 
get in this door.

697
00:22:14,933 --> 00:22:17,500
So I ran up to the next one

698
00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:20,600
and that door was open.

699
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,033
- The car shot straight 
back into a tree.

700
00:22:24,033 --> 00:22:25,966
I was hanging onto the car door.

701
00:22:25,966 --> 00:22:28,400
And then I see Randy

702
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,633
and John are on the back 
bumper still hanging on.

703
00:22:32,633 --> 00:22:35,200
So I work my way back to them

704
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,633
and as we're hanging 
on to the bumper,

705
00:22:37,633 --> 00:22:39,666
well the water just 
keeps increasing

706
00:22:39,666 --> 00:22:42,266
and it's shooting over 
the roof of the car

707
00:22:42,266 --> 00:22:44,900
and it's like being 
underneath a waterfall.

708
00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:46,700
It was drowning us.

709
00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:49,466
And we looked at each 
other and we said,

710
00:22:49,466 --> 00:22:51,566
"I hope to see you 
again tomorrow."

711
00:22:51,566 --> 00:22:54,233
And we all just let 
go and took off.

712
00:22:57,766 --> 00:22:59,666
- [Narrator] Arlene 
Mattis is in a vehicle

713
00:22:59,666 --> 00:23:01,300
with her husband Jack,

714
00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:03,233
her sister Millie Raywalt

715
00:23:03,233 --> 00:23:05,700
and Millie's husband, Gene.

716
00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:07,200
They reach the center of town

717
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,400
and encounter high water.

718
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,833
Their car stalls.

719
00:23:10,833 --> 00:23:13,800
So they get in with another 
man who's driving by.

720
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:15,566
- He got us all up there

721
00:23:15,566 --> 00:23:17,233
and there was a rack 
on top of the car

722
00:23:17,233 --> 00:23:19,700
and we all five got up there

723
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:21,700
and floated on that car

724
00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:23,666
until a little roof came by.

725
00:23:23,666 --> 00:23:24,600
Cause there was some kind of,

726
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,466
a little camping thing I think

727
00:23:26,466 --> 00:23:28,300
was at that intersection 
at the time.

728
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:31,033
And...

729
00:23:31,033 --> 00:23:34,433
so we got on this roof

730
00:23:34,433 --> 00:23:35,600
when that roof came by,

731
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,433
we five got on this roof.

732
00:23:38,566 --> 00:23:41,300
And then we floated 
a while on there

733
00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:43,933
and a bigger roof come by

734
00:23:43,933 --> 00:23:45,800
and we all stepped across

735
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:46,633
and got on there.

736
00:23:46,633 --> 00:23:47,566
Because we were a little

737
00:23:47,566 --> 00:23:49,633
higher up from the water.

738
00:23:49,633 --> 00:23:51,100
And we were on there for a while

739
00:23:51,100 --> 00:23:53,266
and all the while these,

740
00:23:53,266 --> 00:23:54,266
these um...

741
00:23:55,466 --> 00:23:57,933
gas tank things 
were going by and

742
00:23:57,933 --> 00:23:59,633
fire, and

743
00:23:59,633 --> 00:24:01,200
logs,

744
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,433
and then about that time

745
00:24:03,433 --> 00:24:04,300
kind of a...

746
00:24:05,433 --> 00:24:07,533
little smaller house came

747
00:24:08,533 --> 00:24:10,400
and it came by us

748
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,700
so we all got on there

749
00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:15,066
and about the time 
we all got on there,

750
00:24:15,066 --> 00:24:16,500
it split.

751
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,466
And my husband just 
got over with us.

752
00:24:18,466 --> 00:24:19,466
We were all on there.

753
00:24:19,466 --> 00:24:20,900
And when it's where he split,

754
00:24:20,900 --> 00:24:22,066
he just stepped across.

755
00:24:22,066 --> 00:24:24,633
And half of it 
went down the crick

756
00:24:24,633 --> 00:24:28,300
and then we kept going on down.

757
00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:31,800
We were not too far from Omaha

758
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,933
heading East on this house.

759
00:24:33,933 --> 00:24:35,800
And then a bigger house came.

760
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,300
It was a little bigger.

761
00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:39,966
So we all crawled 
up on that house.

762
00:24:39,966 --> 00:24:42,700
And then...

763
00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:44,733
we floated on that for a while

764
00:24:44,733 --> 00:24:46,500
and then a bigger house came

765
00:24:46,500 --> 00:24:49,700
and we all got on 
that bigger house.

766
00:24:49,700 --> 00:24:52,800
And then this house 
was big enough

767
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,333
that it went down about well,

768
00:24:55,333 --> 00:24:57,700
Rice Cycle was 
across the street.

769
00:24:57,700 --> 00:24:58,533
We were about right,

770
00:24:58,533 --> 00:24:59,866
where Rice Cycle was

771
00:25:01,366 --> 00:25:03,500
on the other side of Omaha

772
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:04,766
and it,

773
00:25:04,766 --> 00:25:06,300
this house wedged 
up against a tree

774
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:08,233
and uh...

775
00:25:08,233 --> 00:25:09,900
there was two big trees I think.

776
00:25:09,900 --> 00:25:10,733
And then there was 
a trailer house

777
00:25:10,733 --> 00:25:12,533
that was kind of wedged.

778
00:25:12,533 --> 00:25:13,666
And our house caught there.

779
00:25:13,666 --> 00:25:15,500
And that's where it stayed.

780
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:17,700
- [Narrator] Denny Bohls is

781
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:19,300
at A and B Welding Supply

782
00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:22,100
playing cards with coworkers.

783
00:25:22,100 --> 00:25:23,533
They plan to spend the night

784
00:25:23,533 --> 00:25:26,600
protecting the store's 
merchandise from high water.

785
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,000
- [Denny] We heard a 
knock at the back door

786
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:30,600
and went to back door 
to see who it was.

787
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:35,166
It happened to be one 
of our employees wives.

788
00:25:35,166 --> 00:25:36,000
And she says,

789
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,166
"Well..."

790
00:25:37,166 --> 00:25:39,000
He to be in Sioux Falls.

791
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,300
On the way back from Sioux Falls

792
00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:41,766
with a transport.

793
00:25:41,766 --> 00:25:42,600
And she said,

794
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:43,833
"Well tell Joe

795
00:25:43,833 --> 00:25:45,033
that we're gonna 
go to the church.

796
00:25:45,033 --> 00:25:47,866
The police just told 
us to evacuate."

797
00:25:47,866 --> 00:25:49,966
So we were by the back 
door of the building,

798
00:25:49,966 --> 00:25:52,133
which was on the North side.

799
00:25:52,133 --> 00:25:54,800
And we looked out at the 
pickup she was driving

800
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,366
and the pickup was 
already starting to float.

801
00:25:57,366 --> 00:25:59,633
And she had her two 
girls in the pickup.

802
00:25:59,633 --> 00:26:01,266
So myself and the other employee

803
00:26:01,266 --> 00:26:02,400
ran out and we got the girls

804
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:03,666
out of the pickup,

805
00:26:03,666 --> 00:26:05,566
headed back to the store.

806
00:26:05,566 --> 00:26:06,533
And before,

807
00:26:06,533 --> 00:26:08,033
when we got back to the store,

808
00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:10,500
we turned around and looked

809
00:26:10,500 --> 00:26:12,466
and the pickup was 
floating away already.

810
00:26:12,466 --> 00:26:13,400
(camera snapping)

811
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,000
And then we saw our neighbors,

812
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:16,500
which was right to the 
South of the building.

813
00:26:16,500 --> 00:26:17,733
They were walking,

814
00:26:17,733 --> 00:26:19,100
they were trying to 
across New York street

815
00:26:19,100 --> 00:26:21,100
and they couldn't get across.

816
00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:23,266
So we let 'em in the building.

817
00:26:23,266 --> 00:26:25,366
And we no more got 
in the building,

818
00:26:25,366 --> 00:26:27,233
we heard something crack

819
00:26:27,233 --> 00:26:28,666
and it turned around and looked

820
00:26:28,666 --> 00:26:30,200
and the cinder block building

821
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,133
which was on the West side

822
00:26:31,133 --> 00:26:32,733
of the building cracked.

823
00:26:32,733 --> 00:26:34,733
And it started coming in.

824
00:26:34,733 --> 00:26:36,366
So we headed to the East,

825
00:26:36,366 --> 00:26:37,300
the front of the building,

826
00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:38,466
which was on the East side

827
00:26:38,466 --> 00:26:40,033
to get it out.

828
00:26:40,033 --> 00:26:41,266
And we got to the 
front of the building

829
00:26:41,266 --> 00:26:42,500
and we couldn't 
get the door open

830
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:44,433
because there was so 
much pressure on the,

831
00:26:44,433 --> 00:26:46,066
on the building itself.

832
00:26:46,066 --> 00:26:48,233
So my boss Harold,

833
00:26:48,233 --> 00:26:49,900
kicked the glass out

834
00:26:49,900 --> 00:26:50,833
and he went out

835
00:26:50,833 --> 00:26:52,233
and the neighbors went out.

836
00:26:52,233 --> 00:26:55,966
A man, woman and their son.

837
00:26:55,966 --> 00:26:57,233
And then um...

838
00:26:57,233 --> 00:26:58,166
And then that's,

839
00:26:58,166 --> 00:26:58,966
they just went in the dark

840
00:26:58,966 --> 00:26:59,733
we just lost them.

841
00:26:59,733 --> 00:27:01,233
That's when we,

842
00:27:01,233 --> 00:27:02,833
that's when we got 
pushed up in the corner

843
00:27:02,833 --> 00:27:04,833
and climbed up in the counter

844
00:27:04,833 --> 00:27:06,433
and stayed there all night long

845
00:27:06,433 --> 00:27:09,533
and the water was coming 
up inside the building,

846
00:27:09,533 --> 00:27:10,733
getting deeper and deeper

847
00:27:10,733 --> 00:27:12,700
and I kicked the plate 
glass window out,

848
00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:13,866
the front window out

849
00:27:13,866 --> 00:27:14,900
to let the water release

850
00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:16,633
and let it run through.

851
00:27:16,633 --> 00:27:17,933
And uh...

852
00:27:17,933 --> 00:27:18,766
we sat on that,

853
00:27:18,766 --> 00:27:19,600
or stood on that,

854
00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:21,333
that counter...

855
00:27:21,333 --> 00:27:22,866
should I say.

856
00:27:22,866 --> 00:27:24,100
And I had one of the girls

857
00:27:24,100 --> 00:27:25,900
and the other employee 
had the other girl,

858
00:27:25,900 --> 00:27:28,166
and that was midnight.

859
00:27:28,166 --> 00:27:30,900
And we watched 
houses floating by

860
00:27:30,900 --> 00:27:32,800
with people with flashlights

861
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:33,733
and people hollering.

862
00:27:33,733 --> 00:27:34,766
And you can see the flashlights

863
00:27:34,766 --> 00:27:35,900
in the upper windows.

864
00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:38,000
These were two story houses.

865
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,000
We see propane tanks floating by

866
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:41,633
with a fire shooting 
out of them.

867
00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:45,166
The National Guard was here.

868
00:27:45,166 --> 00:27:46,333
Uh...

869
00:27:46,333 --> 00:27:47,466
They were following 
the crick down

870
00:27:47,466 --> 00:27:48,700
and they were 
shooting their flares

871
00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:49,833
so everything had 
an orange glow.

872
00:27:49,833 --> 00:27:54,066
(mournful orchestral music)

873
00:27:54,066 --> 00:27:55,600
- [Narrator] Dolores Allen flees

874
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,000
to hire ground with 
her husband and nephew

875
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,533
before the flood surge comes.

876
00:28:00,533 --> 00:28:02,133
But she can't 
convince her mother

877
00:28:02,133 --> 00:28:04,900
and others to leave a 
house near the creek.

878
00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:05,733
- [Delores] While we was walking

879
00:28:05,733 --> 00:28:06,900
away from the house,

880
00:28:06,900 --> 00:28:08,566
it was raining.

881
00:28:08,566 --> 00:28:09,566
And it was like,

882
00:28:09,566 --> 00:28:12,066
people were like 
being poured on,

883
00:28:12,066 --> 00:28:14,666
buckets of water were 
being poured on us,

884
00:28:14,666 --> 00:28:17,833
but we wrapped up by 
nephew in some plastic.

885
00:28:17,833 --> 00:28:22,066
And so that was really 
a huge downpour.

886
00:28:22,066 --> 00:28:23,266
And then my mother,

887
00:28:23,266 --> 00:28:25,066
I guess she looked 
out the window

888
00:28:26,233 --> 00:28:27,533
and she seen waves coming.

889
00:28:27,533 --> 00:28:29,933
She saying like "Hawaii Five-O."

890
00:28:29,933 --> 00:28:30,766
So she said,

891
00:28:30,766 --> 00:28:31,600
"She's right.

892
00:28:33,100 --> 00:28:34,100
We better get outta here."

893
00:28:34,100 --> 00:28:35,833
And my aunt said,

894
00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:39,300
"No I'm gonna stay.

895
00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:40,533
You know where its warm."

896
00:28:41,866 --> 00:28:43,266
And my mother

897
00:28:43,266 --> 00:28:45,233
and my cousin went running

898
00:28:45,233 --> 00:28:46,433
towards Philadelphia Street

899
00:28:46,433 --> 00:28:49,100
where my mother's house is

900
00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:50,266
and um...

901
00:28:50,266 --> 00:28:51,200
they reached it

902
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:52,000
and she could hear a thud.

903
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,000
And she knew my,

904
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,233
my cousin got,

905
00:28:54,233 --> 00:28:56,033
she hit a tree.

906
00:28:56,033 --> 00:28:57,033
Of course she died.

907
00:28:57,033 --> 00:28:58,300
And then my mother hung onto

908
00:28:58,300 --> 00:29:00,333
the porch up to the ceiling,

909
00:29:00,333 --> 00:29:01,866
you know the rafter,

910
00:29:01,866 --> 00:29:03,100
she hung there.

911
00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:04,100
She said,

912
00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:05,900
"She had to grab 
onto something."

913
00:29:07,066 --> 00:29:09,400
But she was saying 
she was praying

914
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:10,933
and asking for her to let,

915
00:29:10,933 --> 00:29:12,600
or she let me live.

916
00:29:13,733 --> 00:29:14,933
I've got grandchildren

917
00:29:14,933 --> 00:29:15,800
and stuff like that.

918
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,066
And she was up there,

919
00:29:17,066 --> 00:29:18,133
but you know,

920
00:29:18,133 --> 00:29:20,266
the water was still coming up.

921
00:29:20,266 --> 00:29:21,100
So she heard,

922
00:29:21,100 --> 00:29:21,933
or the neighbor,

923
00:29:21,933 --> 00:29:23,133
her neighbor crying,

924
00:29:23,133 --> 00:29:24,266
crying out for help.

925
00:29:25,133 --> 00:29:25,966
And uh...

926
00:29:27,100 --> 00:29:29,500
finally that the 
rescue boat came by

927
00:29:31,966 --> 00:29:33,833
and seeing them 
and picks them up.

928
00:29:33,833 --> 00:29:35,000
Yeah.

929
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,366
But my cousin was gone.

930
00:29:38,966 --> 00:29:40,900
- [Narrator] As the 
water begins to recede

931
00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:42,600
after a night of terror.

932
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:44,966
Survivors take stock 
of the situation.

933
00:29:46,100 --> 00:29:47,933
Local veterinarian 
Keith Johnson,

934
00:29:47,933 --> 00:29:49,133
joins friends to look

935
00:29:49,133 --> 00:29:50,500
for people in need of help.

936
00:29:51,633 --> 00:29:53,100
- [Keith] Stan 
Lieberman showed up

937
00:29:53,100 --> 00:29:56,166
with a boat right 
here on the West

938
00:29:56,166 --> 00:29:58,000
side of Bennet Clarkson Hospital

939
00:29:59,633 --> 00:30:02,566
and Bill Groethe was there

940
00:30:02,566 --> 00:30:05,166
so the three of us 
were in his boat

941
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:07,400
and thought we'd do

942
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,366
what we could to 
find some survivors.

943
00:30:11,566 --> 00:30:14,033
So basically that's 
got us to this point

944
00:30:14,033 --> 00:30:15,600
where,

945
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:16,800
uh...

946
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,200
we did see this 
Matthew Vanderbeek.

947
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,400
- [Narrator] Matthew 
Vanderbeek is 14 years old.

948
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,200
His father, mother, and brother

949
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,000
have died in the flood,

950
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,566
leaving him as the 
family's soul survivor.

951
00:30:29,633 --> 00:30:31,300
- [Keith] Hanging in a tree,

952
00:30:31,300 --> 00:30:33,100
shivering and shaking

953
00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:35,366
and worried about his family

954
00:30:35,366 --> 00:30:37,266
more than anything else.

955
00:30:37,266 --> 00:30:38,233
But they,

956
00:30:38,233 --> 00:30:40,233
his family got into a boat

957
00:30:40,233 --> 00:30:43,033
and the family perished.

958
00:30:43,033 --> 00:30:43,966
But uh...

959
00:30:43,966 --> 00:30:45,366
the house stayed intact

960
00:30:45,366 --> 00:30:46,933
if they'd stayed with the house.

961
00:30:48,166 --> 00:30:49,766
This is the upper branches and

962
00:30:52,666 --> 00:30:55,133
sure he went by various trees

963
00:30:55,133 --> 00:30:55,900
trying...

964
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:58,600
to find his,

965
00:30:58,600 --> 00:30:59,600
to get outta the water.

966
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:00,433
But uh...

967
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:02,733
he managed to get,

968
00:31:04,533 --> 00:31:05,433
get up in that tree

969
00:31:05,433 --> 00:31:07,133
and was hanging on.

970
00:31:13,466 --> 00:31:15,533
- [Narrator] Robby Corner 
takes shelter for the night,

971
00:31:15,533 --> 00:31:18,400
with others in a house 
high above the creek,

972
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,833
hoping his mother has survived.

973
00:31:20,833 --> 00:31:22,833
The flood surrounded her home.

974
00:31:22,833 --> 00:31:23,666
- First light,

975
00:31:23,666 --> 00:31:24,600
my friends and I,

976
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:25,800
we walked outta the house

977
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,733
and down to the 
edge of the highway

978
00:31:27,733 --> 00:31:28,666
and looked over.

979
00:31:28,666 --> 00:31:29,866
And we could see that uh...

980
00:31:31,133 --> 00:31:33,433
if you get rid of that carport,

981
00:31:33,433 --> 00:31:35,733
basically what we were 
looking at from up there

982
00:31:35,733 --> 00:31:37,666
was what you're 
looking at right here.

983
00:31:37,666 --> 00:31:41,433
There is just not a single 
board left of the house.

984
00:31:41,433 --> 00:31:43,100
Um...

985
00:31:43,100 --> 00:31:44,433
And so,

986
00:31:44,433 --> 00:31:45,266
you know,

987
00:31:45,266 --> 00:31:46,233
we really didn't know

988
00:31:46,233 --> 00:31:47,066
what happened to anybody.

989
00:31:47,066 --> 00:31:48,033
Strangely enough,

990
00:31:48,033 --> 00:31:49,400
that house never got hit.

991
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:50,500
And so what happened was

992
00:31:50,500 --> 00:31:52,333
it kicked a wall out,

993
00:31:52,333 --> 00:31:53,533
um...

994
00:31:53,533 --> 00:31:55,066
but the house remained there.

995
00:31:55,066 --> 00:31:56,566
And uh...

996
00:31:56,566 --> 00:31:57,700
So again,

997
00:31:57,700 --> 00:31:59,233
the speculation is that nothing

998
00:31:59,233 --> 00:32:00,566
floated down and hit it,

999
00:32:00,566 --> 00:32:03,500
but I'm sure where this 
house was located here,

1000
00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:05,266
there was a lot of 
houses coming down,

1001
00:32:05,266 --> 00:32:06,200
hitting you know,

1002
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:07,533
one house hitting another house

1003
00:32:07,533 --> 00:32:08,966
and so on and so forth

1004
00:32:08,966 --> 00:32:12,400
and everything getting 
knocked off its foundation.

1005
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:13,833
Um...

1006
00:32:13,833 --> 00:32:15,333
So,

1007
00:32:15,333 --> 00:32:16,700
I had a neighbor 
that was renting

1008
00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:18,966
a house right over 
here at the time.

1009
00:32:18,966 --> 00:32:20,566
And he was,

1010
00:32:20,566 --> 00:32:22,166
he had walked out here from town

1011
00:32:22,166 --> 00:32:24,466
to see what was going 
on with his place.

1012
00:32:24,466 --> 00:32:26,300
And so...

1013
00:32:26,300 --> 00:32:27,300
we said,

1014
00:32:27,300 --> 00:32:28,133
"Well let's walk into Rapid City

1015
00:32:28,133 --> 00:32:29,500
and see what's going on

1016
00:32:29,500 --> 00:32:30,666
and see if you know,

1017
00:32:30,666 --> 00:32:32,066
we can get to a 
telephone or something

1018
00:32:32,066 --> 00:32:33,600
to let...

1019
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,100
my sister know,

1020
00:32:35,100 --> 00:32:36,166
try to let my sister know

1021
00:32:36,166 --> 00:32:37,566
what was my situation

1022
00:32:37,566 --> 00:32:40,133
and my relatives that 
lived here in Rapid.

1023
00:32:40,133 --> 00:32:41,000
Um...

1024
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:42,133
So we walked into town

1025
00:32:42,133 --> 00:32:43,100
and it was,

1026
00:32:43,100 --> 00:32:43,933
you know,

1027
00:32:43,933 --> 00:32:45,233
it was just a nightmare.

1028
00:32:45,233 --> 00:32:48,133
There was fish laying 
all over the highway

1029
00:32:48,133 --> 00:32:49,233
from Canyon Lake

1030
00:32:49,233 --> 00:32:50,500
and the creek.

1031
00:32:53,366 --> 00:32:55,000
So one of the friends I was

1032
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:56,266
with was Steve Mills.

1033
00:32:56,266 --> 00:32:57,433
And so we walked 
over to his house.

1034
00:32:57,433 --> 00:32:59,366
He lives near 
Steven's High School,

1035
00:32:59,366 --> 00:33:00,900
and it was up you know,

1036
00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:03,000
away from any 
flooding or anything.

1037
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,866
And the telephones 
worked and so forth.

1038
00:33:04,866 --> 00:33:08,233
So I called up to 
my uncle's house

1039
00:33:08,233 --> 00:33:09,500
up on Frontier drive.

1040
00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:10,333
And I told him,

1041
00:33:10,333 --> 00:33:11,200
I said,

1042
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:12,033
"Here's where I am.

1043
00:33:12,033 --> 00:33:12,966
And do you know

1044
00:33:12,966 --> 00:33:13,900
what's going on with my sister?"

1045
00:33:13,900 --> 00:33:15,500
And they had heard from her

1046
00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:17,166
and she was alive.

1047
00:33:17,166 --> 00:33:18,333
Um...

1048
00:33:18,333 --> 00:33:19,966
And so,

1049
00:33:19,966 --> 00:33:21,100
but I couldn't,

1050
00:33:21,100 --> 00:33:22,333
I hadn't heard anything 
about my mother.

1051
00:33:22,333 --> 00:33:24,500
Well probably about,

1052
00:33:25,933 --> 00:33:28,133
I dunno, 4 or 5:00 PM that day

1053
00:33:28,133 --> 00:33:28,966
um...

1054
00:33:30,833 --> 00:33:34,000
my uncle's neighbor from 
up on Frontier drive

1055
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,100
came over to Mill's house.

1056
00:33:35,100 --> 00:33:36,533
Cause he knew where we were

1057
00:33:36,533 --> 00:33:37,633
to pick me up and take me up

1058
00:33:37,633 --> 00:33:39,800
to my aunt and uncles.

1059
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:41,266
And he said you know,

1060
00:33:41,266 --> 00:33:44,900
"They found your mom 
a little bit earlier

1061
00:33:44,900 --> 00:33:48,233
and she'd washed a number 
of miles down the creek.

1062
00:33:48,233 --> 00:33:49,233
They found her body.

1063
00:33:53,533 --> 00:33:54,633
- [Narrator] Dave Baumberger

1064
00:33:54,633 --> 00:33:57,266
is about two miles downstream.

1065
00:33:57,266 --> 00:33:59,266
The house he's in breaks apart

1066
00:33:59,266 --> 00:34:02,066
sending nine people 
into the water.

1067
00:34:02,066 --> 00:34:03,866
- [Dave] I got out 
at the mainstream

1068
00:34:03,866 --> 00:34:04,900
and off to the side

1069
00:34:04,900 --> 00:34:06,800
and there was a pickup stranded

1070
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,800
with a family in it.

1071
00:34:09,666 --> 00:34:10,500
And...

1072
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:12,700
I couldn't pull myself

1073
00:34:12,700 --> 00:34:14,233
into the back end of the pickup.

1074
00:34:14,233 --> 00:34:16,166
They were in the box.

1075
00:34:16,166 --> 00:34:17,300
And...

1076
00:34:17,300 --> 00:34:18,433
I finally,

1077
00:34:18,433 --> 00:34:20,300
they got me drug in over

1078
00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:22,200
the side somehow or another.

1079
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:24,633
And so until the water receded,

1080
00:34:24,633 --> 00:34:27,833
we stayed in the back 
end of that pickup.

1081
00:34:27,833 --> 00:34:29,600
It was me and one of the,

1082
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:31,333
one of the boys from the family

1083
00:34:31,333 --> 00:34:33,333
that survived that night

1084
00:34:33,333 --> 00:34:34,500
and seven died.

1085
00:34:36,766 --> 00:34:38,600
- [Narrator] Ron 
and LaVonne Masters

1086
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,266
and their daughter Karen

1087
00:34:40,266 --> 00:34:42,000
hold onto trees in the water

1088
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,000
all night after their 
car is submerged.

1089
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,833
They've seen two 
year old Timothy

1090
00:34:46,833 --> 00:34:49,000
swept away by the current.

1091
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,633
They fear the same has happened

1092
00:34:50,633 --> 00:34:52,066
to their other children,

1093
00:34:52,066 --> 00:34:55,033
Steven, Joanne and Jonathan.

1094
00:34:55,033 --> 00:34:56,766
- I heard a voice under my feet.

1095
00:34:56,766 --> 00:34:58,233
I couldn't believe 
I heard a voice.

1096
00:34:58,233 --> 00:35:01,433
And so I laid my 
cheek in the water

1097
00:35:01,433 --> 00:35:03,366
and I spoke up to the window

1098
00:35:03,366 --> 00:35:04,200
and I said

1099
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:05,033
"Who is it?

1100
00:35:05,033 --> 00:35:06,666
Who is it?"

1101
00:35:06,666 --> 00:35:07,500
And Joanne,

1102
00:35:08,366 --> 00:35:10,066
was how old at that time?

1103
00:35:10,066 --> 00:35:11,233
- She was eight. 
- She was eight.

1104
00:35:11,233 --> 00:35:12,733
- Eight.

1105
00:35:12,733 --> 00:35:13,900
Came floating right across 
- I thought she was 10.

1106
00:35:13,900 --> 00:35:15,066
- She was 10. 
and came right up...

1107
00:35:15,066 --> 00:35:16,066
- She was 10, Ron. 
- And looked in my eyes.

1108
00:35:16,066 --> 00:35:16,866
- She was 10. 
- She was 10.

1109
00:35:16,866 --> 00:35:17,666
- I'll never forget

1110
00:35:17,666 --> 00:35:18,200
the look in her eyes

1111
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:19,433
like...

1112
00:35:19,433 --> 00:35:21,366
- Cause she thought she 
was the only one left.

1113
00:35:21,366 --> 00:35:22,300
- Cause her two brothers

1114
00:35:22,300 --> 00:35:23,966
had died beside her.

1115
00:35:23,966 --> 00:35:26,066
- They had suffocated, 
- They had suffocated.

1116
00:35:26,066 --> 00:35:27,466
The funeral director told us

1117
00:35:27,466 --> 00:35:30,533
there was no water in 
their lungs at all.

1118
00:35:30,533 --> 00:35:33,266
- My sister actually 
had to move them

1119
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:36,133
when they died.

1120
00:35:36,133 --> 00:35:38,333
So she has her 
own story to tell,

1121
00:35:38,333 --> 00:35:39,333
but she had to

1122
00:35:39,333 --> 00:35:40,133
move them aside. 
- But she tried

1123
00:35:40,133 --> 00:35:41,733
to talk to them.

1124
00:35:41,733 --> 00:35:42,733
- They talked for a while 
- But they didn't answer.

1125
00:35:42,733 --> 00:35:44,000
- Yeah they talked for awhile

1126
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,800
and then they 
didn't answer back.

1127
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:47,833
But one of them was sitting.

1128
00:35:47,833 --> 00:35:49,400
I don't know that scout had a,

1129
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:50,333
had seats on the side.

1130
00:35:50,333 --> 00:35:51,266
And one was sitting there,

1131
00:35:51,266 --> 00:35:52,600
she actually had to move him

1132
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,000
so that she could keep her feet.

1133
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,266
Cause she was in a wall of water

1134
00:35:56,266 --> 00:35:58,700
or the water was like 
up to here to her

1135
00:35:58,700 --> 00:36:01,566
and she just had her 
head up at the ceiling.

1136
00:36:01,566 --> 00:36:02,866
- And that's the way 
- And there wasn't

1137
00:36:02,866 --> 00:36:03,800
enough air... 
- She lived more many hours.

1138
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:05,466
Well there wasn't enough air

1139
00:36:05,466 --> 00:36:07,666
for three of them to survive.

1140
00:36:07,666 --> 00:36:08,800
- No. 
- There was only

1141
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,066
enough air for one 
- For one.

1142
00:36:11,066 --> 00:36:13,166
Our little two year old son

1143
00:36:13,166 --> 00:36:14,566
that had floated all the way

1144
00:36:14,566 --> 00:36:15,433
through Rapid City

1145
00:36:15,433 --> 00:36:16,700
and was found clear out

1146
00:36:16,700 --> 00:36:19,433
where the Open 
Bible church is now.

1147
00:36:19,433 --> 00:36:21,000
Do you know where 
it is out East?

1148
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,200
He was caught up 
in a tree up there.

1149
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,166
And the only way 
he was identifiable

1150
00:36:25,166 --> 00:36:27,833
was his little 
Minnesota Twins jacket

1151
00:36:27,833 --> 00:36:29,366
that LaVonne had put on him

1152
00:36:29,366 --> 00:36:30,966
before we went to left off.

1153
00:36:30,966 --> 00:36:32,700
- [LaVonne] I don't think 
you ever get over it.

1154
00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:34,866
Ever, ever, ever.

1155
00:36:34,866 --> 00:36:37,366
Because they're part of you

1156
00:36:37,366 --> 00:36:40,000
and to lose a child is probably

1157
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,500
the most traumatic of any death.

1158
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,133
- [Narrator] Tom 
Haggerty listens

1159
00:36:47,133 --> 00:36:48,800
helplessly through the night

1160
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,466
to screaming in 
his neighborhood.

1161
00:36:52,466 --> 00:36:53,766
In the morning he walks

1162
00:36:53,766 --> 00:36:55,400
to his father's business.

1163
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,133
Haggerty's department store

1164
00:36:57,133 --> 00:37:00,066
near the creek in 
central Rapid City.

1165
00:37:00,066 --> 00:37:03,366
- [Tom] Basically our 
store was that size,

1166
00:37:03,366 --> 00:37:05,100
not quite as wide,

1167
00:37:05,100 --> 00:37:07,100
but the entire front

1168
00:37:07,100 --> 00:37:10,266
of that building 
was glass panels.

1169
00:37:10,266 --> 00:37:12,766
So it was a huge glass front

1170
00:37:12,766 --> 00:37:13,800
on that's where,

1171
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,066
and all the glass was gone.

1172
00:37:16,066 --> 00:37:19,566
And the parking lot of 
course was full of mud.

1173
00:37:19,566 --> 00:37:21,633
It was full of broken

1174
00:37:21,633 --> 00:37:24,033
fixtures from the store.

1175
00:37:25,300 --> 00:37:27,933
When I walked through the front,

1176
00:37:27,933 --> 00:37:29,166
which used to be,

1177
00:37:29,166 --> 00:37:31,900
you know a wall of windows,

1178
00:37:31,900 --> 00:37:33,400
there was about...

1179
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:35,400
two to three feet of mud

1180
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:36,733
in the store

1181
00:37:36,733 --> 00:37:38,300
and everything was gone.

1182
00:37:38,300 --> 00:37:41,166
I mean it was a 40,000 
square foot store

1183
00:37:41,166 --> 00:37:43,566
and there was no 
merchandise left visible

1184
00:37:43,566 --> 00:37:45,533
except what happened 
to be mounted

1185
00:37:45,533 --> 00:37:46,766
up on the walls above

1186
00:37:46,766 --> 00:37:48,933
about a five, six foot level.

1187
00:37:48,933 --> 00:37:52,200
There's still some 
product hanging up there.

1188
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:54,133
But everything else was just,

1189
00:37:55,033 --> 00:37:55,866
mud.

1190
00:37:55,866 --> 00:37:57,400
And uh...

1191
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,233
my dad and his main employees

1192
00:38:00,233 --> 00:38:02,266
were standing in front of

1193
00:38:02,266 --> 00:38:04,866
the store and just kind of

1194
00:38:04,866 --> 00:38:06,900
this helpless look 
on their face.

1195
00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:09,000
Like what do we do?

1196
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,400
- [Narrator] Kay 
Schriever escapes

1197
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:11,500
rising flood water

1198
00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:13,466
and runs up a fire escape

1199
00:38:13,466 --> 00:38:15,700
into the multi-story 
Rushmore building

1200
00:38:15,700 --> 00:38:18,400
just West of 
downtown Rapid City.

1201
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,033
- I ran literally ran into

1202
00:38:21,033 --> 00:38:21,900
because it was dark.

1203
00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:23,100
Couldn't see anything.

1204
00:38:23,100 --> 00:38:25,500
I just felt my 
way down the hall.

1205
00:38:25,500 --> 00:38:27,933
And I ran into some people

1206
00:38:28,833 --> 00:38:30,000
and um...

1207
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,333
it was,

1208
00:38:31,333 --> 00:38:32,733
the people that were

1209
00:38:34,166 --> 00:38:36,266
from the radio station

1210
00:38:36,266 --> 00:38:37,766
that was here.

1211
00:38:37,766 --> 00:38:40,700
And they had move 
it up to that floor.

1212
00:38:40,700 --> 00:38:42,500
Or maybe they were 
on that floor.

1213
00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:43,333
I don't know,

1214
00:38:43,333 --> 00:38:44,366
cause I'd never been in

1215
00:38:44,366 --> 00:38:46,133
the building or anything.

1216
00:38:46,133 --> 00:38:47,366
And um...

1217
00:38:47,366 --> 00:38:49,366
there was I know 
at least one lady

1218
00:38:49,366 --> 00:38:51,066
cause she was,

1219
00:38:51,066 --> 00:38:52,266
trying to comfort me.

1220
00:38:52,266 --> 00:38:55,166
I told her that my 
friends were out here,

1221
00:38:55,166 --> 00:38:56,000
you know,

1222
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:56,833
help.

1223
00:38:56,833 --> 00:38:58,100
You know,

1224
00:38:58,100 --> 00:38:59,400
my friends were out 
here and everything.

1225
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:00,566
And I don't remember

1226
00:39:00,566 --> 00:39:01,933
if she came with me or not.

1227
00:39:01,933 --> 00:39:02,866
But like I said,

1228
00:39:02,866 --> 00:39:05,500
I went in and out a few times.

1229
00:39:05,500 --> 00:39:07,400
- [Narrator] Five teens 
with Kay Schriever

1230
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:08,900
are trapped by the flood.

1231
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,000
Ed Healy and Gayle Nemeti

1232
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,533
die when the wall of a 
nearby store blows out.

1233
00:39:15,533 --> 00:39:16,600
The other three,

1234
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,733
Mike Faust, Randy Shacklett

1235
00:39:18,733 --> 00:39:21,766
and John Dengis are 
swept downstream.

1236
00:39:21,766 --> 00:39:22,700
- But I lucked out

1237
00:39:22,700 --> 00:39:24,666
and I shot down almost to,

1238
00:39:24,666 --> 00:39:26,433
I went down basically about

1239
00:39:26,433 --> 00:39:28,933
where Founders 
park is right now.

1240
00:39:28,933 --> 00:39:29,966
And the current starts

1241
00:39:29,966 --> 00:39:32,733
pulling me back into the stream.

1242
00:39:32,733 --> 00:39:34,100
Well I managed to grab

1243
00:39:34,100 --> 00:39:36,366
one of those big Oak trees there

1244
00:39:36,366 --> 00:39:39,366
and I was hanging 
on for dear life.

1245
00:39:39,366 --> 00:39:41,833
And literally this is the truth.

1246
00:39:41,833 --> 00:39:43,800
The current was so strong.

1247
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,266
I had slip on boots,

1248
00:39:45,266 --> 00:39:46,633
like beetle boots or something

1249
00:39:46,633 --> 00:39:49,166
and the water 
completely stripped me

1250
00:39:49,166 --> 00:39:51,233
from the waist down.

1251
00:39:51,233 --> 00:39:53,033
So when they found 
me the next day,

1252
00:39:53,033 --> 00:39:55,800
I was basically naked 
from the waist down,

1253
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,366
but my t-shirt had 
stretched down so much.

1254
00:39:58,366 --> 00:39:59,500
It was down to my knees.

1255
00:39:59,500 --> 00:40:00,666
So it was like a dress.

1256
00:40:00,666 --> 00:40:03,500
John was swept all the way down

1257
00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:04,800
to buy where the packing

1258
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:06,400
plant bridge is down there.

1259
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:07,433
And he was caught up

1260
00:40:07,433 --> 00:40:08,900
in the bridge and debris.

1261
00:40:08,900 --> 00:40:10,200
And somebody he told me,

1262
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:11,633
threw him a rope,

1263
00:40:11,633 --> 00:40:12,933
but he couldn't pull 'em out

1264
00:40:12,933 --> 00:40:13,900
because of the current

1265
00:40:13,900 --> 00:40:14,966
and the debris and stuff.

1266
00:40:14,966 --> 00:40:16,266
So he literally said

1267
00:40:16,266 --> 00:40:18,033
this guy hooked this rope up

1268
00:40:18,033 --> 00:40:19,700
to a car or truck or something

1269
00:40:19,700 --> 00:40:21,100
and pulled him through.

1270
00:40:21,100 --> 00:40:23,700
- [Narrator] Randy Shacklett's 
body was found later,

1271
00:40:23,700 --> 00:40:25,000
farther downstream.

1272
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,533
Among the six teens 
in Mike Faust's car

1273
00:40:28,533 --> 00:40:30,233
on the night of the flood,

1274
00:40:30,233 --> 00:40:32,300
three died and three lived.

1275
00:40:33,733 --> 00:40:35,600
Arlene Mattis spends the night

1276
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:37,000
moving from one piece of

1277
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,066
floating debris to another.

1278
00:40:39,066 --> 00:40:40,733
She ends up on a floating house

1279
00:40:40,733 --> 00:40:42,866
that wedges against some trees

1280
00:40:42,866 --> 00:40:44,566
surrounded by the flood.

1281
00:40:44,566 --> 00:40:46,300
- [Arlene] And then 
my husband said,

1282
00:40:46,300 --> 00:40:47,600
"Well."

1283
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:48,866
He looked and he saw

1284
00:40:48,866 --> 00:40:51,266
there was an attic 
window right below.

1285
00:40:51,266 --> 00:40:52,766
And he knocked that out

1286
00:40:52,766 --> 00:40:54,433
and we all crawled in there.

1287
00:40:54,433 --> 00:40:56,733
So it was warmer.

1288
00:40:56,733 --> 00:40:57,766
And so that's where we spent

1289
00:40:57,766 --> 00:40:59,000
the rest of the night then.

1290
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,600
And then I don't know 
what time it was,

1291
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:04,633
but I stayed real 
close to the window

1292
00:41:04,633 --> 00:41:05,733
and I would holler,

1293
00:41:05,733 --> 00:41:06,566
you know, "Help,"

1294
00:41:06,566 --> 00:41:07,733
every once in a while.

1295
00:41:07,733 --> 00:41:09,166
And every time I hollered help,

1296
00:41:09,166 --> 00:41:12,700
you could hear help 
all the way down,

1297
00:41:12,700 --> 00:41:13,900
far away you know,

1298
00:41:13,900 --> 00:41:16,000
people wanting help.

1299
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,900
And we stayed there until,

1300
00:41:20,666 --> 00:41:22,166
oh I don't know if 
it was getting light.

1301
00:41:22,166 --> 00:41:23,800
I think it was 
still pretty dark.

1302
00:41:24,633 --> 00:41:26,366
And we heard a boat.

1303
00:41:26,366 --> 00:41:28,733
Somebody was coming with a boat

1304
00:41:28,733 --> 00:41:30,000
and they went by

1305
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:31,600
and we hollered at 
'em and they said,

1306
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:32,666
well that they would,

1307
00:41:33,766 --> 00:41:34,600
just stay here.

1308
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:35,833
We'll be back.

1309
00:41:35,833 --> 00:41:38,200
And then they came 
back and got us.

1310
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:39,800
- [Narrator] Denny 
Bohls spends the night

1311
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,000
standing on a display counter

1312
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:43,500
in the flooded A and B Welding

1313
00:41:43,500 --> 00:41:46,066
supply store where he works.

1314
00:41:46,066 --> 00:41:48,033
Denny and a coworker 
helped rescue

1315
00:41:48,033 --> 00:41:50,200
a woman and her two daughters.

1316
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:51,466
They spend the night in

1317
00:41:51,466 --> 00:41:53,733
the flooded store 
and all survive.

1318
00:41:53,733 --> 00:41:54,900
- Pretty much,

1319
00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:55,966
pretty much had 
destroyed our building.

1320
00:41:55,966 --> 00:41:58,133
We only had one standing wall.

1321
00:41:58,133 --> 00:42:00,166
All the merchandise 
inside was lost.

1322
00:42:01,766 --> 00:42:03,500
A lot of that the next day

1323
00:42:03,500 --> 00:42:04,566
after we,

1324
00:42:04,566 --> 00:42:06,000
after I got home.

1325
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:07,533
I had cut my finger pretty bad.

1326
00:42:07,533 --> 00:42:08,666
My thumb that is,

1327
00:42:09,533 --> 00:42:10,666
I got home and got cleaned up

1328
00:42:10,666 --> 00:42:11,600
and got something to eat.

1329
00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:13,833
And got a ride back down here.

1330
00:42:13,833 --> 00:42:16,066
We started looking for 
the owner of the company,

1331
00:42:16,066 --> 00:42:17,666
Harold Elliott,

1332
00:42:17,666 --> 00:42:19,300
cause he was missing.

1333
00:42:19,300 --> 00:42:21,900
And we didn't find him at all.

1334
00:42:21,900 --> 00:42:24,800
We did see the neighbors 
that we had let in.

1335
00:42:25,900 --> 00:42:27,533
We saw them the next day,

1336
00:42:27,533 --> 00:42:28,966
they were okay.

1337
00:42:28,966 --> 00:42:32,100
But Harold had lost 
his life in flood.

1338
00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:35,366
(mournful piano music)

1339
00:42:36,466 --> 00:42:37,933
- [Narrator] In 1972,

1340
00:42:37,933 --> 00:42:40,600
there are two hospitals 
in Rapid City.

1341
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,800
One of them Bennett 
Clarkson is flooded.

1342
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:45,900
For several days 
hundreds of injured

1343
00:42:45,900 --> 00:42:48,400
people are brought to 
St. John's McNamara.

1344
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,233
Sharon Weber is a nurse

1345
00:42:51,233 --> 00:42:53,900
and the manager of the 
emergency department.

1346
00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:56,233
- At the emergency entrance

1347
00:42:56,233 --> 00:42:58,066
there was a big canopy across

1348
00:42:58,066 --> 00:42:59,300
that connected over to

1349
00:42:59,300 --> 00:43:00,400
the nursing home,

1350
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,366
nurses home.

1351
00:43:03,366 --> 00:43:04,800
And...

1352
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,000
one of the doctors and a nurse

1353
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:10,000
was assigned to be 
out there on triage

1354
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:11,900
and tell 'em whether 
to come into the ER

1355
00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:13,466
or where to go you know.

1356
00:43:13,466 --> 00:43:15,600
Whether to go across the street,

1357
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,400
where they were 
keeping people in.

1358
00:43:18,433 --> 00:43:20,600
If they were deceased,

1359
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:21,566
the doctor checked them

1360
00:43:21,566 --> 00:43:22,533
and told them to go,

1361
00:43:22,533 --> 00:43:23,700
which morgue to go to,

1362
00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:24,800
And that.

1363
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,000
And it was a foggy

1364
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,566
dreary spooky night.

1365
00:43:28,566 --> 00:43:29,833
It was just a...

1366
00:43:29,833 --> 00:43:33,066
I still have that eerie 
feeling from that night.

1367
00:43:34,100 --> 00:43:35,733
But then we worked and we worked

1368
00:43:35,733 --> 00:43:37,200
and were worked on people.

1369
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,000
A lot of kids came in 
that needed tetanus shots

1370
00:43:41,966 --> 00:43:44,400
and we sewed up 
lots of lacerations.

1371
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:46,600
Some were in their night clothes

1372
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:47,800
and uh...

1373
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:50,800
some their clothes were

1374
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:52,233
muddy and wet

1375
00:43:53,500 --> 00:43:54,433
and just I...

1376
00:43:54,433 --> 00:43:55,900
I can still see the faces

1377
00:43:55,900 --> 00:43:58,900
of some of those 
just scared to death.

1378
00:44:00,133 --> 00:44:01,233
- [Narrator] Ozzie 
Osheim works at

1379
00:44:01,233 --> 00:44:04,133
the flooded Catron Funeral home.

1380
00:44:04,133 --> 00:44:05,566
He goes to help 
the morning after

1381
00:44:05,566 --> 00:44:08,933
the flood at the Campbell 
Paula funeral home.

1382
00:44:08,933 --> 00:44:10,333
- [Ozzie] Well it was chaos.

1383
00:44:11,500 --> 00:44:12,766
You can imagine.

1384
00:44:12,766 --> 00:44:16,300
Now in the course 
of a normal year,

1385
00:44:16,300 --> 00:44:17,666
the three funeral homes in town

1386
00:44:17,666 --> 00:44:19,500
at that time would 
probably handle

1387
00:44:19,500 --> 00:44:22,133
plus or minus around 
300 funeral homes,

1388
00:44:22,133 --> 00:44:23,333
excuse me,

1389
00:44:23,333 --> 00:44:25,000
300 funerals between 
the three firms.

1390
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:26,466
Now overnight,

1391
00:44:26,466 --> 00:44:27,300
or say

1392
00:44:28,966 --> 00:44:30,100
from day one

1393
00:44:30,100 --> 00:44:31,300
until the body,

1394
00:44:31,300 --> 00:44:33,100
last body was found,

1395
00:44:33,100 --> 00:44:34,933
you had 238 cases.

1396
00:44:35,900 --> 00:44:37,366
There were only 11 licensed

1397
00:44:37,366 --> 00:44:38,533
funeral directors on staff

1398
00:44:38,533 --> 00:44:40,666
at the three funeral homes.

1399
00:44:40,666 --> 00:44:42,766
And fortunately the 
funeral profession

1400
00:44:42,766 --> 00:44:44,766
responded beautifully

1401
00:44:44,766 --> 00:44:46,433
within the next number of days.

1402
00:44:47,633 --> 00:44:49,666
We had approximately 
55 funeral directors

1403
00:44:49,666 --> 00:44:50,933
from five,

1404
00:44:50,933 --> 00:44:53,400
from Rapid City, the 
Black Hills region,

1405
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:55,066
the state of South Dakota,

1406
00:44:55,066 --> 00:44:56,800
and about a five state region,

1407
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:58,533
about 55 funeral directors

1408
00:44:58,533 --> 00:45:01,500
came in and volunteered 
their time to assist us.

1409
00:45:01,500 --> 00:45:03,166
- [Narrator] Within 
a couple of days.

1410
00:45:03,166 --> 00:45:05,900
The Catron funeral home 
where Ozzie Osheim works

1411
00:45:05,900 --> 00:45:07,466
is back and running

1412
00:45:07,466 --> 00:45:09,633
and receiving bodies.

1413
00:45:09,633 --> 00:45:11,533
- [Ozzie] Obviously there 
weren't enough tables

1414
00:45:11,533 --> 00:45:13,033
in which to place everyone

1415
00:45:13,033 --> 00:45:14,966
up off the ground.

1416
00:45:14,966 --> 00:45:17,433
So we neatly put sheeting

1417
00:45:17,433 --> 00:45:19,566
and blanketing on the floor.

1418
00:45:19,566 --> 00:45:21,633
And as a body was prepared

1419
00:45:21,633 --> 00:45:23,733
that had brought to the building

1420
00:45:23,733 --> 00:45:26,833
and brought downstairs 
was properly cleaned.

1421
00:45:26,833 --> 00:45:29,200
Bathed, embalmed.

1422
00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:30,733
Then the body was placed on

1423
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,200
the unidentified 
section of the garage.

1424
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,833
When the public came to 
identify their loved one,

1425
00:45:38,133 --> 00:45:39,700
we had nurses on duty.

1426
00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:41,166
We had clergy on duty

1427
00:45:41,166 --> 00:45:43,833
to help those who might 
need medical help,

1428
00:45:43,833 --> 00:45:45,233
the help those who needed...

1429
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:49,033
physical support.

1430
00:45:49,033 --> 00:45:51,533
But the families would 
be taken into the garage.

1431
00:45:51,533 --> 00:45:53,900
One family at a time,

1432
00:45:53,900 --> 00:45:55,100
usually just one or two of

1433
00:45:55,100 --> 00:45:57,533
the family members 
would come in with us.

1434
00:45:57,533 --> 00:45:59,300
A staff member

1435
00:45:59,300 --> 00:46:00,566
would go with them.

1436
00:46:01,666 --> 00:46:02,966
If the body was identified,

1437
00:46:02,966 --> 00:46:04,866
it was properly marked,

1438
00:46:04,866 --> 00:46:07,433
and placed in the 
identified section.

1439
00:46:08,633 --> 00:46:10,300
- Kay Schriever is 
asked to identify

1440
00:46:10,300 --> 00:46:13,100
the body of her 
friend Gayle Nemeti.

1441
00:46:13,100 --> 00:46:14,300
- [Kay] And um...

1442
00:46:15,533 --> 00:46:16,733
she was...

1443
00:46:20,033 --> 00:46:22,066
on the floor in the garage.

1444
00:46:25,833 --> 00:46:26,933
And it was her.

1445
00:46:28,666 --> 00:46:29,500
But...

1446
00:46:32,466 --> 00:46:34,900
she wasn't all messed 
up or anything.

1447
00:46:34,900 --> 00:46:35,800
I was so thankful.

1448
00:46:37,900 --> 00:46:40,666
I just saw like...

1449
00:46:40,666 --> 00:46:43,466
bruises on the side of her face.

1450
00:46:43,466 --> 00:46:44,300
And you know,

1451
00:46:44,300 --> 00:46:46,233
she was a muddy mess,

1452
00:46:46,233 --> 00:46:47,066
but...

1453
00:46:48,100 --> 00:46:49,300
she was all there.

1454
00:46:51,333 --> 00:46:52,500
And so I just thought,

1455
00:46:52,500 --> 00:46:53,933
felt to my heart that,

1456
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,866
I hope she didn't suffer a lot.

1457
00:46:58,866 --> 00:47:02,500
(mournful orchestral music)

1458
00:47:02,500 --> 00:47:05,066
- The three funeral homes 
realized very shortly

1459
00:47:05,066 --> 00:47:06,333
that they couldn't,

1460
00:47:06,333 --> 00:47:07,900
it was going to be 
almost impossible

1461
00:47:07,900 --> 00:47:09,900
to have a full funeral service

1462
00:47:09,900 --> 00:47:11,266
for each and every family.

1463
00:47:12,500 --> 00:47:13,966
So the three funeral 
homes sat down

1464
00:47:13,966 --> 00:47:15,566
with the ministerial 
associations

1465
00:47:15,566 --> 00:47:17,933
that were here in 
town at the time.

1466
00:47:17,933 --> 00:47:20,866
And it decided that 
they would offer

1467
00:47:20,866 --> 00:47:23,100
graveside services only.

1468
00:47:23,100 --> 00:47:25,133
Not full services 
with a church service

1469
00:47:25,133 --> 00:47:27,200
or a service in the chapel.

1470
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:29,933
Most families were 
content with that plan.

1471
00:47:31,766 --> 00:47:34,700
Once one of us had sat 
down with the family,

1472
00:47:34,700 --> 00:47:35,933
took care of,

1473
00:47:35,933 --> 00:47:36,966
we would take care 
of all the paperwork

1474
00:47:36,966 --> 00:47:38,400
for the death certificates

1475
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:40,333
and all the legal data.

1476
00:47:40,333 --> 00:47:43,033
We would schedule a 
time for the service.

1477
00:47:43,033 --> 00:47:46,000
And then in cooperation 
with the cemeteries,

1478
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:47,233
one certain funeral home

1479
00:47:47,233 --> 00:47:50,033
would schedule their 
services on the hour.

1480
00:47:50,033 --> 00:47:50,966
The second funeral home

1481
00:47:50,966 --> 00:47:51,800
would schedule their services

1482
00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:53,233
on the quarter hour.

1483
00:47:53,233 --> 00:47:54,166
And the third funeral home

1484
00:47:54,166 --> 00:47:55,033
would schedule their services

1485
00:47:55,033 --> 00:47:56,400
on the half hour.

1486
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,166
So that we were 
all jammed together

1487
00:47:58,166 --> 00:47:59,033
at the same time,

1488
00:47:59,033 --> 00:47:59,866
trying to...

1489
00:48:01,466 --> 00:48:02,833
Made it easier 
for the cemeteries

1490
00:48:02,833 --> 00:48:04,033
to accommodate everyone.

1491
00:48:05,466 --> 00:48:06,400
- [Narrator] Some of the bodies

1492
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:08,566
are not easily identified.

1493
00:48:08,566 --> 00:48:09,400
Dentists,

1494
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:11,066
including Gerry Harms

1495
00:48:11,066 --> 00:48:14,133
use dental records to 
make identifications.

1496
00:48:14,133 --> 00:48:16,066
- When people drowned,

1497
00:48:16,066 --> 00:48:17,733
they bloat.

1498
00:48:17,733 --> 00:48:19,800
And you cannot recognize them.

1499
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:21,266
So uh...

1500
00:48:21,266 --> 00:48:22,433
I took care of a lot of

1501
00:48:22,433 --> 00:48:23,600
the people down there.

1502
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:26,000
One of my best friends 
was down there.

1503
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,466
He and his wife and 
son drowned that night.

1504
00:48:28,466 --> 00:48:29,300
But anyway,

1505
00:48:31,933 --> 00:48:33,700
I got all my dental records out,

1506
00:48:33,700 --> 00:48:35,033
cause that's the only way

1507
00:48:35,033 --> 00:48:38,433
you can find out 
specifically who people are.

1508
00:48:38,433 --> 00:48:40,433
And so uh...

1509
00:48:40,433 --> 00:48:42,466
they had a 18 wheel trailer

1510
00:48:42,466 --> 00:48:44,700
there at the morgue.

1511
00:48:44,700 --> 00:48:46,300
They kept bringing people in

1512
00:48:47,433 --> 00:48:48,366
and you know,

1513
00:48:48,366 --> 00:48:49,900
if I thought I knew something

1514
00:48:49,900 --> 00:48:51,933
about who they were or whatever,

1515
00:48:53,300 --> 00:48:55,033
then I'd get their records out.

1516
00:48:55,033 --> 00:48:56,100
And uh...

1517
00:48:56,100 --> 00:48:58,100
it was just a terrible ordeal.

1518
00:48:59,466 --> 00:49:00,900
- [Narrator] James 
Whitehead flies

1519
00:49:00,900 --> 00:49:04,000
a National Guard helicopter 
into the wreckage,

1520
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:05,500
retrieving bodies.

1521
00:49:05,500 --> 00:49:07,066
- That's the only way we could,

1522
00:49:07,066 --> 00:49:09,200
we could get into some of 
these places, you know.

1523
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,533
Especially down by Baken Park.

1524
00:49:11,533 --> 00:49:12,766
That was a,

1525
00:49:12,766 --> 00:49:14,633
that was really a lot 
of mess down there.

1526
00:49:14,633 --> 00:49:16,666
And uh...

1527
00:49:16,666 --> 00:49:18,233
people wrapped around trees

1528
00:49:18,233 --> 00:49:19,433
and of course all the...

1529
00:49:20,300 --> 00:49:21,133
bushes

1530
00:49:21,133 --> 00:49:22,300
and brush and limbs

1531
00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:23,533
and stuff was piled around em'.

1532
00:49:23,533 --> 00:49:24,366
I mean you just,

1533
00:49:24,366 --> 00:49:25,300
you literally had

1534
00:49:25,300 --> 00:49:26,933
to pull 'em out of there.

1535
00:49:26,933 --> 00:49:28,366
You know because they're,

1536
00:49:28,366 --> 00:49:30,033
entangled in there so much.

1537
00:49:31,466 --> 00:49:33,500
And I remember this 
one 18 year old girl,

1538
00:49:33,500 --> 00:49:35,400
I'm sure she was 
about 18 years old.

1539
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:37,766
She had her leg 
completely tore off

1540
00:49:38,833 --> 00:49:40,533
and uh...

1541
00:49:40,533 --> 00:49:42,233
it was,

1542
00:49:42,233 --> 00:49:43,700
it was bad.

1543
00:49:43,700 --> 00:49:44,900
You couldn't even imagine

1544
00:49:44,900 --> 00:49:46,266
what it looked like.

1545
00:49:46,266 --> 00:49:47,600
You couldn't even imagine.

1546
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:49,800
I mean it looked like...

1547
00:49:49,800 --> 00:49:51,000
The...

1548
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,233
World War II when 
they bombed in series,

1549
00:49:53,233 --> 00:49:54,066
you know,

1550
00:49:54,066 --> 00:49:56,666
and all the destruction.

1551
00:49:56,666 --> 00:49:57,733
- [Narrator] City workers spend

1552
00:49:57,733 --> 00:49:59,066
the days after the flood,

1553
00:49:59,066 --> 00:50:01,866
repairing badly 
damaged utilities,

1554
00:50:01,866 --> 00:50:03,500
they look for survivors

1555
00:50:03,500 --> 00:50:04,566
and count the dead.

1556
00:50:05,466 --> 00:50:07,100
Two days after the flood,

1557
00:50:07,100 --> 00:50:08,733
Mayor Don Barnett calls

1558
00:50:08,733 --> 00:50:10,700
a meeting of the city council.

1559
00:50:10,700 --> 00:50:12,733
- We got the council together

1560
00:50:12,733 --> 00:50:15,100
in a small room 
in the courthouse.

1561
00:50:15,100 --> 00:50:17,600
It had one little 
light bulb on the wire

1562
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:19,666
and we were sitting 
around the table,

1563
00:50:19,666 --> 00:50:22,033
but the reporters 
weren't there yet.

1564
00:50:22,033 --> 00:50:24,033
I had told him about the meeting

1565
00:50:24,033 --> 00:50:27,000
and you just can't have 
meetings in South Dakota

1566
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:29,433
without the reporters 
in attendance.

1567
00:50:29,433 --> 00:50:30,933
And they were on the way,

1568
00:50:30,933 --> 00:50:32,000
but we got to talking

1569
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:33,966
to this federal employee

1570
00:50:33,966 --> 00:50:35,766
and he wanted to 
bring the muscle

1571
00:50:35,766 --> 00:50:37,700
of the federal government in

1572
00:50:37,700 --> 00:50:42,233
and repair about 700 
mobile home pads.

1573
00:50:42,233 --> 00:50:45,566
They had been located 
in mobile home camps

1574
00:50:45,566 --> 00:50:47,966
or parks they called them.

1575
00:50:47,966 --> 00:50:48,833
But they had,

1576
00:50:48,833 --> 00:50:50,566
they were all damaged.

1577
00:50:50,566 --> 00:50:52,233
They were undercut with water

1578
00:50:52,233 --> 00:50:53,566
and mud and crap

1579
00:50:53,566 --> 00:50:55,433
and sewer lines were broken.

1580
00:50:55,433 --> 00:50:57,166
Water lines were broken.

1581
00:50:57,166 --> 00:50:58,466
The power was out.

1582
00:50:58,466 --> 00:51:00,866
The telephone poles 
were on the ground.

1583
00:51:00,866 --> 00:51:03,900
It was just like war.

1584
00:51:03,900 --> 00:51:05,500
And so he said,

1585
00:51:05,500 --> 00:51:07,666
"I need authority 
from the council

1586
00:51:07,666 --> 00:51:09,200
to use federal money,

1587
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:14,200
to repair those 700 mobile 
home site locations."

1588
00:51:14,933 --> 00:51:15,933
Leonard Swanson had been

1589
00:51:15,933 --> 00:51:18,533
with the city since 1947

1590
00:51:18,533 --> 00:51:20,533
and he was public 
works director.

1591
00:51:20,533 --> 00:51:22,400
He said, "No!"

1592
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:24,600
Just real sharp like that.

1593
00:51:24,600 --> 00:51:25,833
And he said,

1594
00:51:25,833 --> 00:51:30,266
"The council and the 
city cannot permit

1595
00:51:30,266 --> 00:51:33,000
the reoccupation 
of the flood plain,

1596
00:51:34,100 --> 00:51:37,966
because that would 
endanger so many lives."

1597
00:51:37,966 --> 00:51:38,900
And he said,

1598
00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:41,100
"We should never sentence,

1599
00:51:41,100 --> 00:51:44,733
Like a judge was sentenced 
you to the gallows?

1600
00:51:44,733 --> 00:51:46,700
We should never sentence

1601
00:51:46,700 --> 00:51:49,400
the flood survivors

1602
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:50,900
to one more night

1603
00:51:50,900 --> 00:51:53,600
on the suicidal flood plain.

1604
00:51:53,600 --> 00:51:54,666
And Kay was there,

1605
00:51:54,666 --> 00:51:56,100
my administrative assistant

1606
00:51:56,100 --> 00:51:57,866
and she wrote that down

1607
00:51:57,866 --> 00:51:59,733
and then I repeated it

1608
00:51:59,733 --> 00:52:01,666
and then she repeated it

1609
00:52:01,666 --> 00:52:04,300
and Swanee broke down in tears.

1610
00:52:04,300 --> 00:52:07,333
And Dr. Lytle was president 
of the city council

1611
00:52:07,333 --> 00:52:08,800
and deputy mayor.

1612
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:09,633
And he said,

1613
00:52:09,633 --> 00:52:11,966
"I think Swanee's right!

1614
00:52:11,966 --> 00:52:14,066
We should not 
permit the federals

1615
00:52:14,066 --> 00:52:16,666
to repair those 
mobile home parks.

1616
00:52:16,666 --> 00:52:18,300
Maybe nobody should repair

1617
00:52:18,300 --> 00:52:20,566
their homes near the creek.

1618
00:52:20,566 --> 00:52:21,700
So he made a motion

1619
00:52:21,700 --> 00:52:23,100
and low and behold,

1620
00:52:23,100 --> 00:52:26,700
all 10 councilmen 
adopted that policy.

1621
00:52:26,700 --> 00:52:30,400
We did not buy all of 
the land near the creek,

1622
00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:32,333
but we certainly purchased

1623
00:52:32,333 --> 00:52:35,333
all of the residential 
land by the creek

1624
00:52:35,333 --> 00:52:37,800
and then had a 
relocation program

1625
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:40,000
when the HUD people 
out of Denver

1626
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:43,733
granted Rapid City 48,000,000.

1627
00:52:43,733 --> 00:52:46,700
And we used that to buy,

1628
00:52:46,700 --> 00:52:50,800
the places where 1500 
families had lived.

1629
00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,966
And we converted that 
to an open space park.

1630
00:52:53,966 --> 00:52:55,733
That's five miles long

1631
00:52:55,733 --> 00:52:57,600
and five blocks wide

1632
00:52:57,600 --> 00:52:59,533
all the way through town.

1633
00:52:59,533 --> 00:53:02,700
Now when we have high 
water again in Rapid City,

1634
00:53:02,700 --> 00:53:05,366
those parks will be damaged.

1635
00:53:05,366 --> 00:53:07,100
But they won't be damaged

1636
00:53:07,100 --> 00:53:10,600
to the tune of 700 
destroyed mobile homes

1637
00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,433
and over a thousand 
wooden homes,

1638
00:53:13,433 --> 00:53:15,566
because now it's golf course

1639
00:53:15,566 --> 00:53:17,766
about 18 miles of hiking trails

1640
00:53:17,766 --> 00:53:19,166
and biking trails

1641
00:53:19,166 --> 00:53:21,033
and soccer fields

1642
00:53:21,033 --> 00:53:23,200
and so many recreational things.

1643
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,633
And that flood plain 
park makes Rapid City

1644
00:53:26,633 --> 00:53:29,266
one of the most beautiful 
cities in America.

1645
00:53:29,266 --> 00:53:32,300
But with all this growth 
in Rapid City now,

1646
00:53:32,300 --> 00:53:34,966
they're growing East, 
West, North, and South.

1647
00:53:34,966 --> 00:53:37,166
My God they're gonna 
pull Rapid City

1648
00:53:37,166 --> 00:53:39,600
into Mead county 
here before long

1649
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:41,300
and clear to the air base.

1650
00:53:41,300 --> 00:53:45,000
Box Elder was a mobile 
home park when I was mayor

1651
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:48,633
and now is an American 
South Dakota city.

1652
00:53:48,633 --> 00:53:51,566
And all of that growth 
will turn around

1653
00:53:51,566 --> 00:53:54,366
and put pressure 
on the council to

1654
00:53:54,366 --> 00:53:58,333
again reoccupy the 
beautiful flood plain

1655
00:53:58,333 --> 00:54:02,000
with residential housing 
of all varieties.

1656
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,100
And as long as I'm alive,

1657
00:54:04,100 --> 00:54:06,433
I'll be at those public hearings

1658
00:54:06,433 --> 00:54:08,066
to remind the people

1659
00:54:08,066 --> 00:54:11,133
about the stupidity 
of the planning

1660
00:54:11,133 --> 00:54:15,200
and the zoning and the 
bad land use patterns

1661
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:17,466
that were in place at 5:00

1662
00:54:17,466 --> 00:54:20,533
on June 9th in 
the evening hours.

1663
00:54:20,533 --> 00:54:22,733
Because by 5:00 AM

1664
00:54:22,733 --> 00:54:24,300
they weren't there anymore.

1665
00:54:25,500 --> 00:54:28,666
(gentle guitar music)

1666
00:54:45,700 --> 00:54:50,000
♪ You were 72 on June the 9th ♪

1667
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:51,500
♪ When the rain that fell ♪

1668
00:54:51,500 --> 00:54:54,600
♪ Made the water rise ♪

1669
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:58,333
♪ Canyon Lake lost 
its dam that night ♪

1670
00:54:58,333 --> 00:55:03,333
♪ And took all of it higher ♪

1671
00:55:04,666 --> 00:55:09,366
♪ They found him on 
Jackson Boulevard ♪

1672
00:55:09,366 --> 00:55:13,400
♪ Ankle deep in their 
own front yard ♪

1673
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:14,666
♪ They prayed to God ♪

1674
00:55:14,666 --> 00:55:17,466
♪ Their car could start ♪

1675
00:55:17,466 --> 00:55:22,466
♪ And they went 
for higher ground ♪

1676
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:25,000
♪ If I ever learned ♪

1677
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:28,766
♪ a thing from my father ♪

1678
00:55:28,766 --> 00:55:30,133
♪ Its to never fear ♪

1679
00:55:30,133 --> 00:55:33,600
♪ Hell or high water ♪

1680
00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:38,600
♪ Even when there's 
problems all around ♪

1681
00:55:39,366 --> 00:55:40,333
♪ You just look ♪

1682
00:55:40,333 --> 00:55:43,233
♪ for the higher ground ♪

1683
00:55:43,233 --> 00:55:46,400
(gentle guitar music)

1684
00:55:59,100 --> 00:56:00,966
♪ I remember the lies ♪

1685
00:56:00,966 --> 00:56:03,833
♪ that people swore ♪

1686
00:56:03,833 --> 00:56:05,100
♪ turning from love ♪

1687
00:56:05,100 --> 00:56:08,033
♪ to brandish their swords ♪

1688
00:56:08,033 --> 00:56:09,333
♪ I remember you stood ♪

1689
00:56:09,333 --> 00:56:12,366
♪ without saying a word, ♪

1690
00:56:12,366 --> 00:56:17,366
♪ Hey you took the 
higher ground ♪

1691
00:56:18,566 --> 00:56:20,066
♪ Cause if I ever learned ♪

1692
00:56:20,066 --> 00:56:23,633
♪ a thing from my father ♪

1693
00:56:23,633 --> 00:56:24,733
♪ It's never fear ♪

1694
00:56:24,733 --> 00:56:28,233
♪ Hell or high water ♪

1695
00:56:28,233 --> 00:56:29,200
♪ Cause even when ♪

1696
00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:34,066
♪ there's problems all around ♪

1697
00:56:34,066 --> 00:56:35,033
♪ You just look ♪

1698
00:56:35,033 --> 00:56:38,500
♪ for the higher ground ♪

1699
00:56:38,500 --> 00:56:42,166
(gentle guitar music fades)