BYU-I Hosts Teton Dam Flood Commemoration
REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - Rexburg held events all week in honor of the anniversary of the Teton Dam flood as part of the Flood 50 "remember. connect. serve." initiative. The week culminated on Saturday night with the commemoration program at the BYU-I Center.
Thousands flocked to the BYU-I campus for the performances on Saturday evening. During the welcome speech by Brett Cook, audience members who experienced the Teton Dam flood were asked to stand. Nearly half of the amphitheater audience stood, remembering the tragedy and the community effort that followed to rebuild Rexburg and other towns in the flood zone.
"These are the ones who have the stories," Cook said. "They'll tell you additional facts about the flood than what you'll learn tonight."
Cook described how he watched the waters ravage through the town of Rexburg, hanging onto only what he owned– the clothing on his back. "But I also personally witnessed the days, the weeks, and months and years afterwards, how the area came together," Cook said. "We pulled together and did some great things."
The Flood 50 Dancers performed "Waist Deep in June," a moving contemporary piece to a song describing the flood. Dancers carried large strips of blue fabric to emulate the water, even dancing through the audience.
Several video presentations played during the program where audience members heard from those effected by the flood. Narrators also described how "80 billion gallons of water surged through the Teton and Snake River valley." Over 15,000 livestock were also drowned and scattered across the valley.
Though the tragedy of the Teton Dam remains unthinkable, the theme of tonight's celebration was to remember the service and community that came together to rebuild the towns from the mud up.
"Within moments, their home filled with filthy floodwater from nearby feedlots, their cars floated away," said narrator Daris Howard, recounting a story of a resilient couple caught in the flood. "Through the window they saw cattle swimming with just their noses above the water."
The Flood 50 Orchestra and Choir performed several pieces, following the hopeful theme of the evening, donning blue "Flood 50" shirts. The program followed the "remember. connect. serve." outline, in which the organizers aim to allow audience members to understand the hardships that came with the flood, connect with one another over the memory, and work to continue serving friends and neighbors.
"This story is not only about loss, it's also about neighbors," continued secondary narrator Rachel Horner. "Friends opened their homes, volunteers came with chainsaws, shovels and helping hands. Years later, when asked what mattered most, the weary wife did not speak first about what was destroyed. She said simply, 'we must not forget to appreciate our neighbors and friends.'"
