Looking back at...			...Houston's Great Flood
			by Debi Osborne

On May 13, 1997, Houston began a six-day fight to reclaim land from the swollen Bulkley River. Spring weather had thawed record-breaking amounts of snow in the mountains. Before long, a great quantity of muddy water was forced up and over the river's banks. Properties up and down the valley were flooded. It began to look as if it would reach the very core of the community.

The Flood of '97

An old earthen dike, built to protect Houston from flooding, was now completely under water. The only hope was to build a new dike across the hay field of Garrit Keegstra, on East Valley Road. For four days and five nights, every spare dump truck, loader and bulldozer worked around the clock to build the new dike and to hold back the expanding flood. The new dike would eventually be 1.5 miles in length, 8 feet high, and hold back 500 acres of water over 6 feet high. But it wasn't enough for some people.

Evacuated Homes

Gerrit Keegstra's house, as well as his business, Riverside Gardens, were beginning to succumb to the water. Volunteers arrived in droves to help fill 150,000 sand bags. The water levels continued to increase, and the water overflowed to neighboring lots. Families had to be quickly evacuated.