Tragedy Strikes — The Flood of 1977
PhotosDuring the early morning hours of November 6, 1977, after five days of almost continual rain, the dam that impounded the waters of Kelly Barnes Lake [located above the Toccoa Falls College campus] burst, and 176 million gallons of water surged through the campus below in the space of a few minutes. Most of the college personnel who lived in the path of the flood were asleep at the time, and 39 of them were swept to their deaths in the raging waters of Toccoa Creek. . . . The flood, in the natural understanding of things, was perhaps the greatest tragedy that the Toccoa Falls family had ever experienced. But in like manner the aftermath of the flood probably demonstrated the school’s greatest triumph. Funds were received from a variety of sources to replace the buildings that were lost, to restore the belongings of the survivors, and to reduce the debt that hung like Damocles’ sword over the college. Members of the Toccoa family had in the past been tried by fire and had survived. Now they were tried by flood and again they survived, but they would never be the same. Those who died that night . . . are listed below as a reminder that all of us should rededicate ourselves to the still unfinished task at Toccoa Falls, in order that they shall not have died in vain. — Troy Damron, taken from A Tree God Planted
Links to News Articles
Georgia Dams at a Breaking Point? from Fox 5 Atlanta, Aired on November 14, 2007
Remembering the day Toccoa drowned: ‘The most horrible time,’ from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on 11/03/07
Christian Campus at Toccoa Falls Swept by Flood from Christian History InstituteLast updated June, 2007
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The Children |
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Joseph Anderson
Rebecca Anderson Kenny Ehrensberger Kristen Ehrensberger Robert Ehrensberger Brenda Ginther Jeremiah Moore Bonnie Lynn Pepsny Paul Edward Pepsny Joanna Sproull |
Rhonda Ginther
Nancy Ginther Tracy Ginther Robby Harner Christopher Kemp Dirksen Metzger Joslyn Sproull Melissa Sproull Jaimee Veer Deborah Woerner |
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The Adults
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Karen Anderson |
Carol Pepsny |
For more information and photographs of the 1977 flood, please click here.
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