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| Harrison's big disaster: the May 7, 1961 flood! |
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| By J.E. Dunlap, Jr., Times Publisher Emeritus |
And where were you 43 years ago today?
Many of us were working like beavers to restore our businesses or homes in downtown Harrison and along the banks of Crooked Creek.
It was at about 3:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning of May 5, 1961, when normally placid Crooked Creek suffered its worst disaster, causing four deaths and millions of dollars in damage.
It was described as a "100-year flood" by the Corps of Engineers - a major flood which comes maybe once every 100 years.
Crooked Creek had flooded on many occasions before with water running into stores along the south side of the square, but never before had it flooded like that on this early Sunday morning. It had rained for two days and nights and firemen had helped evacuate areas along the creek, especially from residences along South Spring Street on Friday night. |
| A cloudburst over Gaither Mountain and Hill Top shortly after midnight sent a wall of water, ranging from 9 1/2 to 12-14 feet high, surging over the levee at the intersection of Central Avenue and Spring Street and engulfing everything in front of it. |
| A five-inch rain locally, plus that from the mountain, in a three-hour span caused the creek to go on a rampage. The ground was already saturated by two previous days and nights of rain. |
| Residents had a brief warning of the oncoming disaster when Ruth Wilson, who lived on Highway 7 south, just below the forks of Crooked Creek, called authorities, warning them of the impending disaster. Miss Wilson lived where Mike and Layne Wheeler live today, whose pasture land came under flood waters just a week ago. |
| After Miss Wilson's call, the fire chief called businessmen to warn them to take precautions but the only general warning was via the city's storm warning siren system. |
| The system was activated because of tornado warnings for the area - twisters struck in Marion County killing three. But few realized what far-reaching effects the flood that night would have. Water in the downtown area receded some two and a half hours later. |
| Four people, who lived along the banks of the creek in an area which was, prior to the flood, residential, were killed. Troy Paul, 64, Sherman Smith, 55, J.C. McCutcheon, 77, and his wife, 74, were the victims. |
| Firemen had evacuated most residents from the area. Paul and Smith drowned when they tried to outrun the water. Their bodies were discovered after water receded. |
| Mr. and Mrs. McCutcheon lived near Goblin Stadium. Their home was swept away in the raging waters. His body was discovered two days later on the lawn of the old county jail - now the Sanctuary. Mrs. McCutcheon's body was not discovered until the Sunday following the flood. She was buried in debris about 20 yards west of Miller Hardware, two miles from where her home had stood. |
| The city bounced back - a tribute to the type of citizens which make up the community. |
| There were hardships aplenty for weeks and months, and some scars remained for years. |
| The channel through the business district was dredged and cleared and no flood approaching the 1961 disaster has appeared in recent years until this April and earlier in 1980. |
| In recent years a weir, just upstream from the confluence of Dry Jordan, has formed Lake Harrison which may or may not prevent future flooding. |
| Encroachment along the banks of the stream have been removed, especially in the business district. |
| School buses, roof tops and other debris helped form a dam at the Willow Street bridge on the night of the flood and the water, seeking its own level, poured over the levee and made its way east along Central and Stephenson Avenues. The Willow Street bridge was never replaced. |
| © Harrison Daily Times 2004 |
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