50 years later: Flood memories remain strong (2024)

ENID, Okla. — Today marks the 50th anniversary of one of Enid’s darkest days — the devastating flood of Oct. 10-11, 1973.

The rain started Oct. 10, 1973, and kept falling. National Weather Service recorded an official total of 15.68 inches of rain in 13 hours. An unbelievable 12 inches fell in one three-hour period.

In the end, nine people were killed in the flash flooding, and millions of dollars in damage were recorded as hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.

Houses were pushed off their foundations. Cars were stacked on top of each other.

The Brookside addition on the southeast side of Enid was particularly hard hit. The water roared down Boggy Creek and devastated the area. Many people there survived by climbing into their attics, then chopping holes in their roofs and climbing out and up to safety.

People brought in their boats to bring people to safety. In one instance, Frisco Railroad brakeman Tom Baker dove into the water to save a small child who had been ripped from its mother’s arms.

It’s something those who lived through the events will never forget.

Following are some stories of that fateful time as shared by Enid News & Eagle readers.

‘How powerful moving water is’

“As for my story, Wednesday’s were church nights at First Baptist, and I was there when the storms hit. For those unaware, First Baptist is on Maine Street with the basem*nt of the building opening onto the alley between Maine and Cherokee.

“At first there was a tornado warning so we all went to the basem*nt. Being in junior high and foolish, my buddy and I snuck off to look at the weather outside. We laughed that if it kept raining, Champlain Pool was going to fill up. Soon the sewer started backing up through the toilets, and we were all sent upstairs to the sanctuary. My friend and I, still sneaking around, saw through the window that not only had Champlain Pool filled up, but it was solid water from the church back door all the way to the YMCA on the other side of Cherokee.

“At this point the rain had quit so we snuck out of the building to investigate further. I remember seeing the news-board sign on the top of the Knox Building (now the Symphony Hall) asking for volunteers with boats to help near Brookside. We saw a car on Cherokee that we thought we should check to “make sure nobody was in it.” We waded out onto Cherokee through very fast flowing water reaching our knees. We made it to the car, confirmed nobody was in it, and slowly made our way back out of the torrent. We had no idea how close we came to being two more victims of the flood, but I learned how powerful moving water is that night and have never tempted fate like that again.

“Eventually we were let go from the church and my grandfather drove me home much later in the evening. I lived near Hayes school and wanted to go look at the ditch to see how much water was in it, but didn’t go until the next morning. There was grass in the railings of the foot bridge across the ditch, meaning the water had been that high the night before. I still wish I could have seen that!

“My dad worked for Ken Martin Insurance, and my older brother took our camera out the next day to document things. He was allowed into the rescue zone as he was ‘working for the insurance company.’”

— Rusty Simmons

‘Terrible road from ... Meadowlake Park’

“I was working the second shift at the Failings plant the night of the flood. My section stopped work around 8 PM so we could use brooms to push back the water coming in the north doors. By 10 PM, which was the start of the dinner break, the rain had stopped pouring but we could hear a terrible roar from the direction of Meadowlake Park.

“A group of us climbed into a truck to drive over to see what was happening. The Van Buren bridge was under water so we turned into the south side park area. The railing over the tunnel for the train was only partially visible above the water line. The water cascading over the dam and spillway was unbelievable. There was so much water coming in to the plant that they shut everything down and sent us home around 11 PM. As Van Buren was closed, and leaving my VW Bug in the parking lot, a friend with a pickup took a few of us and headed south to Fox Drive as that was the only route available. Some Vance personnel were controlling traffic at a low spot on Cleveland near Kellet ballfields. The big ditch was nearly to the top, but it was hard to tell for sure.

“The next day, I took my 35mm camera and took a series of pictures at Meadowlake, the ditch behind St Mary’s and Government Springs Park between Maine and E. Market (Garriott), and in Brookside. As I knew that Brookside was cordoned off by the police, and as my father was well known in the insurance business in town, I created a bogus list of addresses in the Brookside addition, parked east of 30th along Market and hiked across a muddy field to get in. Eventually, I was challenged by a police officer as to who I was and why I was there, I showed him the list and said the insurance office sent me to get pictures of the homes on the list. The ruse worked, he let me go about my business.”

— Randal “Randy” W. Simmons

‘Bringing people off of Van Buren’

“I worked at north TG&Y on North Van Buren and the only thing that saved my car from floating out of the lot was me and another employee moved our cars underneath awning there and stood inside and watched cars float away down side street!! We also had guys bringing people inside off of Van Buren, and we unwrapped blankets and put around them from orders from store manager Mr Thatcher! I spent whole night there with others!”

— Linda McBlair Harris

‘Our car had flooded away’

“My wife and two daughters lived on South Harding, just North of Ramada Inn. Early evening tornado sirens sounded, we got in car to go to friend’s cellar. Got 1 block North and ran into water approximately 4 feet deep. Car engine stalled out, and water was so deep we couldn’t open doors, and had to climb out windows. Walked back to our home and about 2 hours later looked out and our car had flooded away and was totaled! So scary!”

— Jim Ross

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