Rapid City Flood (Part 1)
By Cara Hetland
June 11, 1997

Twenty five years ago, the Rapid City South Dakota flood killed 238 people when a dam broke and sent water cascading into residential neighborhoods. Long after the city has rebuilt itself, the memories of this disaster remain.

The forecast 25 years ago was for partly cloudy skies and a chance for late afternoon thunderstorms. National Weather Service Chief Meteorologist at the time was Don Halligan:

WE TAKE UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS WHICH TOOK A SOUNDING SENT UP TO 50,000 FEET BY BALLOON, AND THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THAT WAS THE ONE THAT WENT UP AT 6 AM SHOWED NOTHING BUT DRY AIR.

Using weather records from the area - at the time statisticians say the heaviest rainfall should only be four inches of rain in a 12-hour period, and that should only happen once a century.

But Halligan says June 9 was an unusual day: there were low clouds in the morning, and a strong, steady wind blowing from the east that kept increasing as the day wore on. By noon there were heavy clouds overhead. At the same time, a weak trough was moving in from the west, and cloud-seeding experiments were being conducted. Around 4 pm, heavy rains were reported both northwest and southeast of Rapid City. In 1972 the Weather Service relied strictly on spotters to report the weather conditions. They didn't use radar; communication was strictly through the phone lines.

Rapid City is located in a canyon, surrounded by the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rapid Creek runs in a lazy "U" through the middle of town for a good ten-mile stretch. Seven large drainage ditches run into Rapid Creek.

It had flooded in the past, but it was nothing the city couldn't handle. However the combination of unusual weather and geography was about to prove devastating. Ron and Pat Guy lived in a cul-de-sac near the creek. Their six children ranged in age from five to 13 years old. Pat remembers it was a wet week:

IT HAD STARTED RAINING HARDER, I GUESS YOU WOULD SAY AT AROUND SIX. AND WE HAD SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER, AND RON TOOK - MARK I THINK - AND DROVE OVER TOWARDS PIERRE STREET AND WHEN HE CAME HOME SAID, 'WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME TROUBLE.' (RON TALKING NOW) WHEN THE WATER KEPT RISING AND RISING, I SAID, 'WHEN IT GETS UP TO THE POINT OF WHERE THAT SPRINKLER IS, THEN I KNOW THAT IT'S GETTING TIME TO MAKE A MOVE.'

Jim and Joanne Kech - also with six children from a baby to age 16 - lived along the golf course and were out playing in the rain.

WE WERE HAVING FUN BECAUSE WE DIDN'T FEEL THERE WAS GOING TO BE ANY MAJOR PROBLEM BECAUSE WE'VE HAD FLOODS IN OUR BACK YARD BEFORE, AND WHEN THE TV CAME ON AND SAID THAT EVERYONE THAT LIVES ALONG THE CREEK SHOULD EVACUATE WE DIDN'T CONSIDER OURSELVES AS BEING ALONG THE CREEK BECAUSE WE WERE TWO BLOCKS AWAY.

At 8 pm, a flash flood warning was issued for Rapid City by the National Weather Service.

In some areas of the city 11 inches of rain were reported in a 4-hour period. The east-west air flow battled, and several thunderstorms occurred right over Rapid City. The Kech family came in out of the rain, and Joanne says they still didn't anticipate having to leave.

JOANNE: THE WATER STARTED RUSHING INTO OUR HOUSE AND WE WERE HOLDING THE BASEMENT WINDOWS TO KEEP THIS BLACK AWFUL STUFF OUT OF THE HOUSE. ALL OF A SUDDEN WE REALIZED THAT SOMETHING AWFUL WAS HAPPENING - WE JUST RAN OUT AND TRIED TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO.

Joanne remembers taking two children to a neighbor then. Carrying her baby, she got in a crowded jeep with another neighbor. Two more children hung on to the jeep, walking along side it through waist-deep water to a house a mile away on a hill. Jim sent another daughter to yet another neighbor's house, and he returned home waiting for the jeep to return to pick him up on the next trip.

IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES, AND THE DAM HAD BROKEN, AND THIS BIG WALL OF WATER COMING DOWN FROM THE HILLS ABOVE. THAT ALL RUSHED THROUGH AT THAT TIME, AND WHEN I TRIED TO GET FROM MY HOUSE TO THE NEIGHBORS', THE WATER WAS SO SWIFT AND SO MUCH DEBRIS AND SO HIGH THAT THERE WAS NO WAY GETTING TO IT. SO I THOUGHT, 'WELL, YOU'RE HUNG UP.' SO I TRIED GETTING IN THE HOUSE BUT THERE WAS SO MUCH WATER IN THE HOUSE THAT THE PRESSURE ON THE DOOR - I COULDN'T GET IT OPEN.

Jim stood on a planter and hung on to the house as the water kept rising - at its highest point the water was at his chest.

(JIM) AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH HIGHER IT WAS GOING TO GO. I WAS HOLDING ON TO THE PLANTER, BUT THE FORTUNATE PART WAS THERE WASN'T ANY TURBULENCE WHERE I WAS BECAUSE THE BACK OF THE HOUSE WAS BREAKING THE CURRENT. I TRIED TO CLIMB UP ON THE ROOF WHICH HAD AN OVERHANG, AND I GOT MY FOOT IN THE WROUGHT-IRON FRAMEWORK AND MANAGED TO BREAK A TOE. I THOUGHT, 'WELL, IF I FALL I'M DEAD.' SO I SAID, 'WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO JUST HANG ON ALL NIGHT - WHICH I DID.'

Joanne was safe in a friend's home with three of her children and about 40 other people. She assumed her husband Jim was safe next door.

Jim Kech survived the night hanging onto his house and when the water receded the next morning walked to where his family had stayed. Joanne remembers the walk home.

IT WAS LIKE THE DAY AFTER A WAR. IT LOOKED LIKE A BATTLEFIELD. THERE WASN'T A SOUND, AND IT WAS CLOUDY. THERE WAS A HAWK FLYING ABOVE US, AND THAT WAS THE ONLY SOUND WE COULD HEAR. I REMEMBER IT BEING SO GRAY OUT AND WE WOULD SAY 'LOOK AT THAT HOUSE - LOOK AT THAT HOUSE.' WE COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT OUR EYES WERE SHOWING US BECAUSE ONE OF OUR FRIENDS, HER HOUSE WAS HIT BY A CAR AND IT HAD FALLEN INTO THE BASEMENT. ANOTHER HOUSE WAS TIPPED UPSIDE DOWN - ANOTHER WAS GONE. THERE WAS MUD; THE CARS WERE ALL PILED UP. I REMEMBER THE BOYS - THEY WERE ALL SUCH SPORTSMEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND THEY WERE JUST SCREAMING AT THE SIZE OF THE FISH. THEY WERE PICKING UP THESE DEAD FISH THAT WERE JUST HUGE TROUT FROM THE FISH HATCHERY, AND THEY JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. I THOUGHT 'HOW IRONIC.' WE WERE LOOKING AT OUR HOMES ARE DESTROYED, AND THE BOYS, ALL THEY SEE ARE FISH (laughs) HOW NEAT IT WAS.

Pat and Ron Guy got their family safely to high ground, and Ron spent the night in a boat trying to save people who were drowning. He says the water was moving so quickly that he was unable to save many people. Both the Kech and the Guy families found dead bodies the next morning in their yards. Ron Guy:

YOU REMEMBER THE NEXT MORNING WHEN WE FINALLY GO TO THE HOUSE? IT WAS A FOGGY MISTY DAY, A VERY GLOOMY MORNING. BUT WHO WAS IT--? THERE WAS A MAN AND A BOY (off mic, Pat says, 'I don't even want to know their names.') BUT ONE ON THE PATIO AND ONE WAS FOUND ON GRASSY AREA.

(Pat) AND THE WEIRD THING ABOUT IT WAS NONE OF THOSE BODIES HAD HAIR. THE FORCE OF THE WATER STRIPPED THEM OF HAIR.

The Kech home was lifted off its foundation and shifted with a tree stuck between the foundation and the frame of the house. The Guy home was split in two with the garage and all of its belongings - cars - deep freeze - electrical wiring - pipes - all demolished. Like thousands of others, they began the clean-up, and preparing for the funerals.

Go to Flood of 1997.