Camp Mystic

This is a terrible tragedy. One cannot help but feel sorry for those campers and the families who lost their children. It’s almost too much to bear.

There was a similar storm and flood in July 31-August 1, 1976, along the Big Thompson River in Colorado that killed about 114, some of which were Campus Crusade for Christ student staff at a camp. I remember this because my sister Nancy was involved with the group while in college and lost acquaintances in this disaster. The flood captured my imagination back then and I’d never forgotten it or another random flooding, this one intentional by the US Army Corp of Engineers, the damming of Caesar Creek and submersion of New Burlington, Ohio in order to create a recreational lake/reservoir. Anyway, I combined these two events from my memory to write a story.

Actually, Big Thompson was a disaster of a story as I wrote it, lost it or erased it from computer, and then re-wrote it.

Using resource and archived material I recreated the flooding event at the Big Thompson with flashbacks to the flooding of New Burlington. Here is a link if you wish to read the story which was published in THINK Journal, Fall 2019.

LINK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CYtgp4sV6KbYTRWoTq52F1CC4fTFEFR5l7MdIVCpn_4/edit?usp=sharing

 

Big Thompson flood 1976