Remembering the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood 35 years later

by: bluemcdowell

Sun May 20, 2007 at 16:09:29 PM EDT

I was going to write my first diary on how we Dems need to reach out to my fellow WV evangelicals and Pentecostals in 2008 because they put Bush over the top in 2000 and again carried WV for the Republicans again in 2004.  But the Lord - yes I do believe in Jesus - told me to do it on one of the most if not the very most destructive floods in WV and even US history. the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood.  I was not quite 2 years old when that terrible even took place.

And by the way Jesus is not pleased with George W. Bush and the Republican Party.  Now if we could just convince my fellow evangelical friends to see that.  Had to add that in.

Now back to the topic at hand....

The constant threat of flooding is at times a daily fact of life here in the WV coalfields.  I myself was flooded out in the July 8, 2001 flood and literally came within an inch of being flooded out a second time. Just little over a month ago on April 16 and 17 most of Logan, Mingo, and Wyoming Counties were under water.  My home county of McDowell really was unscathed thank God except for a tiny few places in the Panther and Bradshaw area.  3 to 5 inches of rain fell in I think a 12 to 18 hour period.  Here where I lived we got 3 inches. 

And the strange thing about that was the fact that the creek beside my house was as bone dry as I have ever seen it before that heavy rain hit us.  After all that rain the creek was literally within one inch of spilling out of its banks. If the ground had been just a little more saturated the destruction would have even been much worse.  It was horrible even at that.  But I saw that even the July 8, 2001, May 2, 2002, and April 16, 2007 floods were child's play compared to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood.

121 confirmed dead.  7 never accounted for. 1121 confirmed injured.  1000 homes destroyed. 4000 out of the town of 5000 then named Saunders left homeless.  Yes 80 percent believe it or not!   Millions and millions of dollars of property damage. 

And the sad thing about it is it all could have been prevented if Pittston and the federal government had warned the people to evacuate in time and before that devastating flood had repaired the broken dam in the first place.

Click on "There's More..." to read the rest.

Considering the destruction in 1972, I wonder what would happen if the same thing occurs in 2007 that did in 1972.  I think in some ways better and some ways worse.

I don't think that the number of people dying and injured would be as high today because we have much better warning systems today than in '72.  And also due to the fact that the population in Logan County as well as rest of the coalfields has declined sharply since the coal bust starting in the late '70s and early '80s.

But I do think that it will be worse as well because if the same amount of rain falls today in 2007 that did on that February day and the days preceding it the property damage today will be much much worse.  We can't take the same amount of rain today that we could in 1972 because of all the strip mining and logging.  I actually think I saw  that surface mining started in the late 70s.   If someone knows the exact date I would greatly appreciate knowing it.  Logging was done in 1972 but I don't think to the extent as it is today.

I have a friend up Gilbert Creek in Mingo County and when I drive on Route 52 to his house there are at least three logging companies that I pass by on the way there.  I've been to Pike County, KY also in the coalfields on Rte. 119 and I saw on one website where someone compared it to a "mountain desert."  Sadly they were 100 percent correct.  And it has gotten much much worse since Bush was elected in 2000 - the election where WV not Florida put him in the White House - because of his deregulation policies.

Back to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood.  Survivors there have nightmares about it almost every night when they sleep.  They cry and shed tears most of the time when asked about it.  There are 4 parts of the Buffalo Creek Flood videos on youtube where a sad young man I say about 30 years old absolutely sobbing and regretting that he had his life spared to see all the devastation and destruction.   Then Republican Gov. Arch Moore and the state sued Pittston for $100,000,000 but settled for a paltry $1,000,000 instead.   I think that a Democratic governor would have settled for at least a little more if not much more. 

But you can never put a price on life itself.

Have the coal and logging companies learned their lesson today in 2007?  Sadly I say the answer is a resounding "NO.".

And that will be probably the answer at least until Jan. 20, 2009 when Bush finally leaves office for good.

I want to send all my heartfelt condolences to all surviving 1972 Buffalo Creek survivors and families of lost loved ones destroyed by the flood.  I'm sorry you all had to go through that.  God bless you all.

And oh by the way, Logan County was the only WV county that voted for McGovern in 1972 presidential race.  Probably 100 percent due to both the state and federal governments' inaction on the flood.

And we in McDowell County just suffered through our 5th year anniversary of the May 2, 2002 flood.  Sad but true....