Mayor Barnett
Remembers the Flood of 1972

(Don Barnett was Mayor of Rapid City from 1971 to 1975. Picture of Don Barnett with Senator George McGovern and Eleanor McGovern (right) courtesy of the Rapid City Journal)

In June, 2007, former Rapid City Mayor, Don Barnett, addressed questions asked of him by students at Waubay Junior High School. In his answers, he tells the story of unfolding of events from the viewpoint of a key person involved in all that happened. A few excerpts are presented below. We encourage you to read the full text of his remarks. They bring to life a remarkable time in Rapid City history.

". . . It was a night of absolute terror . . . The Police Department alerted me about 6:30 that the United States Weather Service had alerted the Police Department about the dangers from potentially high waters on Rapid Creek during the next several hours . . . I called my best advisor, Mr. Leonard Swanson, the City Public Works Director, and we met at City Hall. Heavy rains were falling, and Mr. Swanson and I drove to Canyon Lake Park where a city worker and his family lived in the park caretaker’s home, immediately below the dam. Swanny ordered the caretaker, a Parks Department employee, to immediately take his family, leave their evening meal on the table, and get out of the park. The entire family survived the flood. Not a trace of the home (it was city property) or the contents was ever found. The Canyon Lake Dam failed a few hours later . . ."

" . . . the manager of the gas company put his arm around my shoulder and he said, "Mr. Mayor! Somebody could get killed in this thing." The "thing" was the early moments of the flood. It was an understatement. The crew, Mr. George Miller, and I watched a car float down Rapid Creek from just below the State Fish Hatchery and crash into the bridge above Canyon Lake. Minutes later, the bridge failed and the car and debris floated into Canyon Lake . . ."

" . . . The radio and TV interrupted their programming, issued (Mayor Barnett's recorded flood) warning, and ran it almost continuously for about 30 minutes. The engineer also called the other radio stations and asked them to . . . run the warning non-stop. The stations cooperated.   Unfortunately, about 35  minutes after my first warning, the TV station and radio stations lost their electrical power and went "off the air." They did not broadcast again until the next morning . . ."

" . . . Of course, during every hour of the crisis, Sheriff Glen Best and his deputies worked closely with the police and volunteers in the rural areas surrounding the city to search for survivors and deliver the victims to the funeral homes. It was an on-going process for many, many days. Glen and his force worked in the city and county and provided great service . . ."

" . . . I was with one crew on the east side of town near Roosevelt Park. The firemen and several men from the South Dakota National Guard were using ropes and ladders to save the folks from the raging (and very cold) waters. These courageous actions saved dozens of victims from the flooding waters that also contained debris, parts of homes, mobile homes, and other materials that clogged the bridges. The diverted waters roared into neighborhoods far distant from the creek. Many bridges broke apart. The roar of the noise can only be compared to a terrible train wreck . . ."

" . . . I stopped at the courthouse about 7:00 (am) after I was able to drive the city car from the north side of the creek over a partially destroyed bridge to the south side of the creek. The look on the faces of the folks who were reporting missing family members is still framed in my memory. They feared the absolute worst but were praying for miracles. Many broke down in the temporary offices with worry and fear. Words cannot define this fear and suffering . . . "

Read the full text of Mayor Barnett's remarks (.pdf/144kb)
The full text article can be read with Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this program, it can be downloaded for free from Adobe.