James Kuehn, Vice President and Editor of the Rapid City Journal at the time of the flood in 1972, tells his story of that night and the efforts of the Rapid City Journal for the weeks following the tragedy.
Nancy's grandmother lived in a small log cabin by Baken Park. The evening of the Flood she was evacuated by Nancy's brother-in-law, Joe. Her grandmother lost all of her belongings that evening and eventually relocated to Faith, South Dakota.
Millie, her husband, sister and brother-in-law got stuck in the flood waters when their Jeep stalled. A student from South Dakota Mines and Technology got them in his station wagon. They then had to climb to the roof of the car and on to various…
Dr. Lytle was president of the city council at the time of the Flood. He was alderman for Ward 3 which received major devastation and suffered many casualties. Mr. Lytle aided in setting up a reconnaissance center at the Meadowbrook School and…
Arlene spent the evening of the Flood hopping from floating roof to floating roof with her husband, sister and brother-in-law before finally spending the evening in an attic. She remembers calling out for help the entire night.
The day after the Flood, Derald and a neighbor launched Derald's boat in Box Elder Creek and were able to rescue a 12-year-old boy that had been clinging to a tree the entire evening. They also found five people stranded on the roof of a house and…
Jim moved with his wife and two young children to Rapid City one week before the Flood. The family had always wanted to live by a creek and searched for three days but could not find anything for sale. They are not sure why they finally settled and…
Gary describes the Flood as being a spiritual event. The evening of the Flood he was in his VW car with the turn signal blinking left to go to Charlie Browns in Baken Park. For some reason he turned off the signal and decided to try to make it home…
Terry lived on St. Cloud Street with his wife the evening of the Flood. They did not know anything had happened until the next day upon driving to his best friend's wedding. He was to be his best man could not get to the wedding due to streets being…