Duncan Flood (Again) and Testimony

From Vessa’s life story: After being in the hospital for 42 days following his broken hip, Vernon finally was able to come home on October 17, 1972. This was two days before the big flood. It had been raining for several days and the snow was melting in the mountains, so we were quite concerned. We called Darrell Elmer, the Highway Patrolman. He said he was just leaving to go up to the Virden Bridge to see how high the water was up there. If there was any reason to be alarmed he would let us know.

About 20 minutes later, here came Larry, Jack Rapier, and Grant Howard, with Grant’s station wagon, to move Vernon out to Larry and Evelyn’s. They said Darrell had just called them and told them to come and move us as quickly as they could because there was a huge stream coming down the Gila and it wouldn’t be long before it reached Duncan.

Larry and I then came back to try and get as much stuff put up high as possible and to get Vernon’s hospital bed. Mary Anderson and I had been moving things all day, she in the office and me in the house. We still didn’t think we would be flooded.

The flood hit that night about 11:00 o’clock and it was a bad one. There isn’t a way to describe the scene the next morning. Water was all over the town. No one in the path of the flood was spared. After the third day, when the water had finally drained out of the town enough, it had left behind 8-10 inches of silt and muck. Family, friends, and strangers came from all over to help us.

The living room rug seemed fine at first, but then it began to mildew and smelled horrible. The floors began to buckle and the heaters we had to try and dry things out just made it steam. The ceiling in the upstairs bedroom started falling from the steam going upstairs. The floor furnaces were completely out of commission.

It took about two weeks, but they had the kitchen, back bedroom, and the back bathroom fixed up enough that we could move back into it. About the middle of December, Raymond and Myrna came down and he took up the boards in the living room floor, smoothed them down, and put them back. We put an old piece of carpeting on part of the living room floor and moved furniture to where we could at least sit down.

That weekend, the Rapiers brought us a Christmas tree and decorated it for us on Sunday evening. Vernon had wheeled himself over to the tree and helped the kids decorate it.

I want to bear my testimony to my children and grandchildren that the Lord does answers our prayers, not always in the way that we may ask for them, but he gives us the strength to carry on and grow from our experiences.