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<br /> <br />PREFACE <br /> <br />For three days in April 1977, the Thg Forte Valley was <br />subjected to torrential rains and a subsequent flood of <br />monumental proportions. The Thg Forte Valley was no <br />stranger to floods having experienced 37 damaging flood <br />events during a 50-year period. However, the April 1977 <br />flood was the flood of record, exceeding the 500-year flood <br />event in many of the heavily populated areas of the Valley. <br />In a matter of a few hours, 600 homes were completely <br />destroyed and another 5,000 structures were heavily dam- <br />aged by the raging flood waters. <br />Miraculously. there were no fatalities during the flood. <br />but hundreds of families were left homeless during an <br />unusually cold spring month and the Valley's basic infra- <br />structure and industrial base were rendered useless for <br />several months. A massive emergency aid and clean-up <br /> <br />program involving the Corps of Engineers, the Federal <br />Disaster Assistance Administration, the American Red <br />Cross. West Virginia and Kentucky National Guard units <br />and State Emergency Services followed the receding water <br />into the Thg Forte Valley. <br />As the Valley's residents struggled to regain their <br />foothold on life, the seeds of an unique flood damage <br />reduction plan were being sown by the Huntington District <br />of the Corps of Engineers, Aided by the passage of unique <br />legislation, the Corps of Engineers waded into the flood- <br />soaked Thg Forte Valley, and developed a multi-faceted <br />plan destined to change the development pattern of the Thg <br />Forte Valley forever, This report presents the features of <br />that plan as they were constructed and focuses on the <br />application of flood proofing technology in the Thg Forte <br />Valley to reduce future flood damages, <br />