Flood of Memories

June 5th was the anniversary of the Teton Dam Flood which happened 33 years ago. That was quite something to be involved with. At the time I had two toddlers and one on the way. I was outside working in the yard when my neighbor ran to tell me he heard on the radio that the dam broke and we needed to get out. I grabbed some diapers, graham crackers, loaded up the trunk of the car and waited for Dale to come home from work.

We were told to head up to the college Manwaring building. It was about 2 1/2 hours later after the warning that we saw this come through town. Dale is on the right standing at the base of Ricks College campus standing on dry ground, watching debri and cows float by.

After living for a time at the college dorms, we were issued this HUD trailer to stayed in while Dale worked on making our home liveable. We sustained only minimal damage because our house floated up off the foundation and came back down about 2 inches off where it was. The only way we knew is because the hose went under the house and came up out of the other side!

Despite all the dirt and mud, one month later the town of Rexburg had a 4th of July parade. This is one of my favorite flood pictures. It is a van with a sign "WRECKSBURG!" on it. We were a wreck, but we kept going, and cleaning, and sweeping. A special place in my heart is for all the volunteers who came to help the town. They came by the bus fulls! (I don't know if that is a word, but it applies.) We made it through a tough time years ago, rebuilt homes and businesses and today Rexburg is a beautiful, lovely place to live.