43 Years Ago Today Was Idaho’s Biggest Man-made Disaster

On June 5th 1976, the Teton Dam built on the Teton River failed. Do you remember the event? Were you there?

The Teton Dam in southeastern Idaho failed just before noon on June 5th, 1976. The failure released 2,000,000 cfs of water. The failure of the 305 foot high dam was attributed to leaks and cracks in the dam that eventually destroyed the integrity of the dam.

Communities in Rexburg, Sugar City and Wildford were virtually destroyed. People fled to higher ground but 11 people were killed, more that 35,000 people were evacuated and thousands of homes were lost. The water ran for over 100 miles before it stopped.

Do you remember when the newly constructed dam broke? Did you have family in the area? Could you imagine if something like this happened at Salmon Dam or around the Magic Valley? The massive rush of people could cause some serious damage.

Where were you when you learned of this catastrophe?