This mound of dirt in the middle of the Teton River Canyon (Idaho) is all that is left of the Teton Dam after it collapsed on June 5, 1976. The Teton Flood Museum in the basement of the Rexburg Tabernacle shows a great vintage video of the aftermath destruction and amazing cleanup efforts. Ten foot walls of water lifted houses off their foundations and swept them into other homes. Numbers vary but over 13,000 head of cattle were lost and the 1976 crop season came to an early end. Eleven people died as a result of the flood. Google "Teton Flood" for more information and photos.
There is discussion regarding rebuilding the dam - this time it will be done right. Hmmmm.
Looking downstream from the overlook, it's hard to believe this was full of water for eight hours, which is how long it took for the reservoir to empty.
Your broken dam is actually quite beautiful! Isn't it amazing what water can do...we are having tons of dam and flooding issues right now. They are really worried about our NEW college world series stadium...worried if we have a big rain it will flood in the middle of the world series in the next few weeks...after putting millions of dollars into it...sometimes you just have to wonder lol Hope the dam gets fixed RIGHT!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this - I had never heard about this flood before.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember hearing about this either. An amazing amount of water if it took that long to empty. How tragic!
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