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<br /> <br />heavy rainstorms that released large <br />amounts of rain in a short period of <br />time. These two floods did not affect communi- <br />ties located further downstream along the <br />Lefthand Creek Basin. <br /> <br />1969 Flood <br /> <br />In the early morning hours of May 4, 1969 <br />floodwaters once again came roaring through <br />Jamestown, destroying a number of buildings <br />and completely washing out the town water <br />supply. As Zoe Jansen, a longtime community <br />member recounts, "The roaring is what woke <br />us up - it had been raining steadily for about <br />a week and then here it came - it just gushed!" <br />Patsy Taylor, another community member re- <br />counts that the flood happened at night while <br />most of the community was in bed - but, "prob- <br />ably not asleep". She remembers hearing, "A <br />heavy, dull sound," before the floodwaters <br />crested their banks in the early morning <br /> <br />hours. <br /> <br />The James Creek took days to build up to its <br />carrying capacity and several hours to reach <br />its peak discharge on the night of the flood. <br />During the peak, it left its normal channel, <br />wiped out the Ward St. culvert, the Anderson <br />St. bridge, and several buildings, before it <br />reached the blocked Main St. bridge and <br />moved down Main Street itself, creating a new <br />stream channel. <br /> <br />The Town was effectively cut into three iso- <br />lated sections by the flood and neighbors had <br />to wait days for the floodwaters to fully recede <br />before they could freely move around town. <br />Community spirit and generosity certainly <br />played a large role in the recovery of the town. <br />As Patsy Taylor remembers, "everyone volun- <br />teered" to help build a containment wall to <br />return the James Creek to its normal channel <br />so the damaged houses along Main St. could <br /> <br /> <br />Figure. 9. May 8, 1969, Flood in Janu!.town <br /> <br />8 <br />