The Rapid City Public Library

 

 

Interviews with witnesses of the 1972 Black Hills Flood
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Hiland Aughenbaugh

Mr. Aughenbaugh expresses his thoughts about his experiences during the flood when he was working as a groundskeeper at Sioux San Hospital.
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Mabel Heinemann


Flood survivor Mabel Heinemann talks about the damage to her and her husbands restaurant Dick's Drive-Inn. The resaurant was located on Canyon Lake Drive near Canyon Lake Dam which failed during the flood.

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Min Lighter Quarnberg

Ms. Quarnberg , 105 years old, and her daughters Jane Nieland and Lynn Payne describe the events the night of the flood and the resulting damage to Mrs. Quarnberg’s home and her belongings. The interview was conducted in Rapid City on 4/26/06.

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Frank Parker

Mr. Parker was the owner/operator of Marv’s Wrecker Service, Rapid City and was personally involved in several rescues in the early hours of the flood. He talks about his ordeal while hanging on to a power pole for over four hours in rising water along Jackson Boulevard. In the months afterward, his business was given the task of towing thousands of damaged automobiles out of the wreckage left by the disaster. The interview was conducted in Rapid City on January 11, 2006.

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Jack and Joan Getz

Jack and Joan Getz tell of their experience living within a block of Rapid Creek during the 1972 Rapid City Flood. Jack was a reporter for the Rapid City Journal and was on duty in the newsroom to record events in the hours just after the disaster.

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