USGS 1972 Flood Marker at Cleghorn Springs Fish Hatchery, Rapid City, SD

Former and current Rapid City officials spoke about the 1972 flood at the dedication of a USGS flood marker at Cleghorn Springs Fish Hatchery in Rapid City, SD, in June 2012 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the devastating 1972 flood in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The officials (from left to right) were Van Lindquist, South Dakota planning official at the time of the 1972 flood; Don Barnett, Rapid City mayor during 1972 flood; and Rapid City Mayor Sam Kooiker. This historic flood set many record peak discharges that remain today, and the communities of Rapid City and Keystone were changed forever by the loss of life and property damage. The 1972 flash flood took 238 lives and was second only in U.S. history to the Johnstown, Penn. dam break flood in 1889 where 2,200 perished. The flood marker shows how high the water level was during the 1972 flash flood along Rapid Creek in western Rapid City upstream from Canyon Lake Dam.