By Doris Reinke
Correspondent
TV news viewers watched in awe as cameras recorded the horrendous floods in Colorado recently. The torrential rains caused mudslides, which blocked highways.
Rushing water in ditches caused roads to crumble and collapse. Houses and cars floated in lakes, which were overflowing their banks.
People in Elkhorn, which lacks lakes or rivers, were relieved to think how safe it is here from a disaster like that in Colorado. Oh, sometimes there is a little moisture leaking through a basement wall or a bit of water on the cellar floor, but a sump pump or a floor drain rapidly takes care of that.
So it can’t happen here! Old timers shake their heads and bring up the year of 1973.
The spring of 1973 had been a particularly rainy one. By the middle of April, the ground was pretty well saturated. Then, on April 20, a heavy rain fell all day and into the night. At about midnight, Elkhorn residents realized they had a real problem.
Neighbors began to call each other and recommended checking basements. Even those who lived on streets which were always bone dry were advised to look. What did they see?
It had happened – Elkhorn had a flood! There was water everywhere. Streets, cellars, yards – everything was under water.
Storm sewers at street corners couldn’t handle the amount of rain water rushing along the curbs and soon those curbs were hidden by water. Sump pumps overheated as they attempted to clear the basements.
Those without pumps rushed to get pains and start bailing. It turned out to be an exhausting work to fill the pail, run up the steps, out to the curb, empty the pail and do it all over again, and again, and again.
Weak spots in the foundation suddenly became gaping holes with spouts of water gushing in. Water raced in torrents to the lowest spots in town.
The fire department was called to save West Side School. Situated adjacent to a marsh, parts of it was rapidly filling with water. The lower level lunchroom and gym were especially hard hit.
Big pumps and hoses were brought into service to suck the water out. Those who went down to see the action were met with an almost unbelievable sight.
The chain link fence, which outlined the playground, had disappeared. That four-foot high fence was completely submerged underwater.
There was damage outside of the city also. Part of Highway 67 was washed out and there was one-way traffic past the animal shelter. Sugar Creek, usually a quiet little stream, went on a rampage. It used Potters Road for a riverbed. Foster Road, north of town, lost its bridge due to the same flooding creek.
The Independent showed a picture of two boys rowing a boat in the 300 block of Broad Street. Another photo pointed out the high water mark on a car parked on W. 2nd Avenue. The water had almost reached the top.
Soon, though, things were back to normal. The low parts of Elkhorn lost their temporary lakes. Storm sewers functioned adequately again. Roads and bridges were repaired.
Carpets, storage boxes, and furniture from basement rumpus rooms that had been soaked were spread out to dry in the sunshine. Garbage trucks hauled away the items that were hopelessly damaged. It was over.
Those who were here in 1973 remember it vividly and check their basements in periods of heavy rain … just in case.
Elkhornites look back and joke a bit about all that water now. Compared to Colorado, we were very lucky.
Were you one of the boys who rowed a boat down an Elkhorn Street? Were you one of the firemen who helped pump water out of West Side School?
Drop us a note.
Doris Reinke is a Walworth County historian, docent at the Webster House Museum, 9 E. Rockwell St., Elkhorn, and retired educator.
