26 February 1972: Buffalo Creek flood

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"In the early 1970s, more than 5,000 people lived in various small coal towns along Buffalo Creek in Logan County. That was before a wall of water twenty to thirty feet high destroyed virtually everything in the hollow. 118 people were killed February 26th, 1972, when a Pittston Coal Company dam failed, sending flood waters down the narrow Buffalo Creek valley. Hundreds more were injured and more than 500 homes were destroyed. Thousands were left homeless. Seven were never found."

A book about the event:  "Everything In Its Path" by Kai T Erikson

In West Virginia, citizens battle against the mining companies carving off their mountaintops

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