The Teton Dam Disaster of June 5, 1976, actually began with the Flood of 1962. Early spring melting, coupled with ice-jams in the North Fork of the Teton River, caused extensive flooding in the Sugar City area. The following three photos at left were taken during the Flood of '62 from the picture window of our home, showing the view to the east. I remember the water coming through the field. I had built a snow fort on the lawn and was confident my ten years of mortal experience could fashion a snow fortress that would keep the water out. Needless to say, it didn't last very long.
This is the view to the south, showing our front yard. The water was not too deep on the road for the cars to get through. There was a lot of talk about evacuating, but Dad was determined to stay. The car is our 1953 Ford. The water was about two-feet deep according to what Mom had written on the back of this photo. Irving Ball's home is shown to the south.
This was the view to the north, showing Dad's tractor and boat. Browning's home is shown to the north. Neal and Dale would watch out the upstairs window with the .22 and pick off mice floating on pieces of debris. Believe me, they were much better off than trying to survive.
The photo at left shows Sugar City on February 12, 1962. The railroad track is shown going from lower left to upper right, with Sugar City on the right and St. Anthony off in the distance to the north. Our home was just out of camera range center-left. Some of the citizens of Sugar took it upon themselves to dynamite the ice blocking the river by the overpass just north of the city. I remember hearing the booms and wondering what was going on. The ditch to our east was acting as a dike and flooding our house. Dad cut a path for the water to get through. Some of the neighbors did not approve, but repairs were made to the ditch later.
There was a definite need to control the waters of the Teton, so plans were made to prevent such occurrences as the Flood of '62. It was to prevent floods, provide water storage as well as recreation. Little did we know the foundation of such a huge disaster was being laid. The illustration at left shows the path of the water that flooded when the dam collapsed in 1976.
On the morning of June 5, water began leaking on the west side, shown here. The water had been rising on the east side at a rate of about three feet per day. They dispatched bulldozers to plug the leak. One is shown on top of the dam to the left.
This photo and the one above came out in Time Magazine. It shows two D-9 bulldozers falling into the leak. A whirlpool was developing on the east side. It was obvious that the problem was more than they could handle.
Someone that Mom worked with took the photos at left. The erosion continued at an ever-increasing pace until it was fully breached. I had just moved my family from Idaho Falls into Sugar two days earlier. The previous day my wife gave birth to my second child, Jeff. I had stayed with my father-in-law until we could get moved into our apartment. That morning, as I tried to unpack, I had the feeling I should forget it and go and be with Jenna and my mother-in-law. When I drove up into the yard, my mother-in-law, Dorothy, came out and told me the Teton Dam had broken. My thoughts went back to the flood of 1962. We all thought it would be "more of the same." We expected about a foot or so of water. We all thought we should stay together, so I left my car at Brent Kinghorn's and we left for Rexburg Hill. I walked back to help sandbag the bridge north of Rexburg and was told that with the amount of water on the way, there was no hope. I walked back up the hill to the lawn in front of the Lincoln Elementary. Jean Kinghorn, Dorothy Kinghorn, Jenna and I, watched the water roll in from the northeast. As houses started floating around, Jean said, "That is not a good sign."
No comments:
Post a Comment