1972 Canyon Lake Dam failure in the Black Hills flood

A flash flood in the watershed above Rapid City carried debris-laden water into Canyon Lake Reservoir, where it accumulated and clogged the spillway, causing the 20 foot high, 500 foot long earthfill dam seven miles up Rapid Creek to overtop and fail. The flood wave reached downtown Rapid City at approximately 12:15 AM on 10 June with little to no warning. By daybreak 238 lives had been lost and more than 3,000 people were injured.

Date
1972-06-09
Deaths (Wikipedia list, low end where it gives a range)
238
What the pin marks
The dam, as the cited page positions it.
Where the position is published
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Black_Hills_flood

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: south dakota, earthfill dam, flash flood, rapid city

Coordinates: 44.05778, -103.28694

Part of Dam failures that killed 100 or more people since 1900

More in Dam failures that killed 100 or more people since 1900

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