Dramatic Images from the Bismarck-Mandan Flood of April 1952
On a Sunday afternoon in April 1952, snowmelt and ice flows backed up and triggered rapid flooding in Bismarck and Mandan, the likes of which weren't seen again until 2011.
A team rescues the truck that was sent in to rescue the last trailer from Mader’s Trailer Court, Bismarck, 1952. A rescue line from the shore was thrown to the truck which stalled in the deep water while trying to pull the trailer to higher ground. Of the 52 trailers in the court, 49 were pulled out before the flood water trapped the three remaining trailers.
BISMARCK TRIBUNE
"During that afternoon," reads a Bismarck Tribune retrospective of the 1952 flood, "floodwaters rose at a rate of an inch per hour, swamping about 200 homes, leaving more than 1,000 residents homeless. According to reports, more than 100 people had to be rescued by boat and helicopter and many lost everything."
One of the people rescued was Art Zumbaum, pictured below, who was unreachable by boat and stranded in his house for two days, and "was forced to break through the ceiling and roof to await rescue via helicopter."
Art Zumbaum wipes away tears of gratitude and relief following his rescue by helicopter from the roof of a flooded farmhouse south of Bismarck, April 1952. Helping him to a waiting police car are Gil Gaiser, Hennepin County-Minneapolis Red Cross disaster director, left, and a crew member of the Coast Guard rescue helicopter.
BISMARCK TRIBUNE
Houses and cattle were lost, but thankfully no people perished in the 1952 flood.
These and hundreds of other historic images can be found in the Tribune's new pictorial history book, Bismarck-Mandan Memories: Volume II!
Sturdy trees saved the South Side Mission from being washed away downstream, Bismarck, April, 1952. Located on the corner of Sweet Avenue and Washington Street, the little church stood fast against the flood for several hours. Finally it was unable to withstand the rushing waters and was tilted up on its side against the trees.
BISMARCK TRIBUNE
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