RAPID CITY S.D. (KELO.com) — It was on this day in 1972, that 238 people were killed when a freak rainstorm event triggered a massive flash flood that plowed through Rapid City.
The Black Hills Flood of 1972, also known as the Rapid City Flood, is considered to be the most detrimental flood in South Dakota history, and one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history.
The onrushing wall of water came with little warning, smashing into neighborhoods on the west side of Rapid City along Rapid Creek, and moving through the Gap area into downtown Rapid City itself.
The Journey Museum is holding an online event today from 4 to 5 p.m. MT, where historian Corey Christianson hosts a ZOOM presentation about the events of June 9th and 10th 1972 and the recovery effort in the years that followed.
Go to the Journey Museum and Learning Center Facebook Page to join the event and find links to this afternoon’s ZOOM online presentation.
(Brad Anderson, KOTA-AM, contributed this report.)
