photo courtesy Jan Wright: Grants Jewelry can be seen at the end of the street.

by Julie Summers

On June 5, 1976, I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. Kelly, my husband, drove to our house and told me that the Teton Dam had just broken. I immediately called my father, Grant Hanks, who owned a jewelry store on Main Street in Rexburg. Kelly and I drove down to the store and helped take all the jewelry out of the showcases and placed them on top of the counters. We put all that we could into the safes. We assumed that the water would flood the building but we didn’t know that it would be so destructive. A couple feet of water was all we expected.

We then went to my sister’s house on the hill and stood on her balcony and watched with horror as the huge “wall” of dirt and water destroyed everything in its path. Homes and barns were there one minute and gone the next minute. Our home wasn’t affected because we lived on the farm up on the hill. None of my family’s homes were hurt and we were all safe. That night the valley was pitch black; the power was out in the whole area. We could hear cows crying out for their young, it was very eerie.

The next day I drove down through the town. What a shock!! Dead animals were lying all over the streets. Mud, lumber, siding and complete disaster was all that was left. Our jewelry store had the windows blown out and jewelry was scattered all over. I never did go inside the building because of my pregnancy. But relatives and friends came to help my parents “dig” out.

The hospital was full of people getting tetanus shots and getting the help they needed. The LDS church, as well as lots of other denominations, came to the rescue. They sent volunteers to help and opened up the college housing and cafeteria to help any one who needed it. All the stores were closed so we had to go to Idaho Falls to get groceries and essentials. It was quite the experience but it could have been so much worse. If it had happened at night or during the winter months the loss of life would have been staggering. It was something that we will never forget.