Remembering the Teton Flood

Tools

Story Published: Jun 6, 2009 at 4:58 PM MST

Story Updated: Jun 6, 2009 at 4:58 PM MST

By Steven Pope

Video

REXBURG - Announcer: It's coming apart. At 11:57 AM on June 5th, 1976, the Teton Dam collapsed, flooding homes, farms, and the Upper Snake Valley with 80 billion gallons of water.

"This is the history of Rexburg. We have a history that dates back to 1883, but this event had a tremendous impact," said Museum Director Jill Spencer.

Its been 33 years since the dam broke and a way to commemorate this event is by picking up a free bumper sticker at the Museum.
"we're remembering," said Spencer.

The Flood is attracting people from as far away as Houston.
"It's really good some of the hardships of people that have gone through... It could happen us sometime," said Lary Mitsch.

The dam became a 6 mile wide river, moving houses, killing cattle, and washing away an entire valley.

Don Ellis a radio announcer, didn't have words for what happened.
"holy... Great... What can I say, people better get out."

ANNOUNCER: "Most residents were evacuated to higher ground, where they watched the eerie occurrence of houses and belongings floating away."

Everything had to be re-built, and that's why Rexburg doesn't have a building older than 33 years.

Current Weather

Current Temp 36.0 °F

Overcast

Video

More Weather

Current Weather

More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.