Irene Perry - The '72 Flood (3:45)
Here's a heart-wrenching tune about a devastating flood that swept through 17 small West Virginia towns on February 26, 1972.
The flood was caused by the catastrophic failure of a coal slurry impoundment dam built along Buffalo Creek in Logan County, WV (about 30 miles south of Madison). What the hell is a coal slurry impoundment dam? Basically, a colossal (mostly) liquid garbage dump built to contain the impurities that are left over as a result of the coal mining process. The poorly built dam in question was less than 3 years old when it gave way, the deadly consequence of a myriad of engineering deficiencies.
The resulting flood killed 125 people and left approximately 4,000 people homeless.
For more appalling details on this horrific disaster, check out the video clip below from the History Channel.
And speaking of totally avoidable catastrophes, Dave The Spazz has graciously invited me to be his guest on tomorrow night's Music To Spazz By program. If you're so inclined, tune in from 8PM - 11PM (EST) to hear a wealth of goofball hillbilly oddities and full-throttle honky tonkers.
Credit: The Charleston Daily Mail image above was borrowed from 1horsetown's flickr stream.
A here is what happens to that coal after it gets used to light up our lives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill
No one died, so I guess it won't warrant a collectible single.
Posted by: king creosote | December 03, 2009 at 01:52 PM