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Show ntri-iMLK uioHiitK Page 4 pleased that rain for the crops was finally on the way. Within minutes the sprinkle turned into a torrent and was accompanied by lightning, howling winds, and hail. Eyewitnesses compared the hailstones to quail eggs and chestnuts and reported that the largest were Ik inches in diameter. Several days later, observers from the Department of the Interior found hailstones measuring nearly an inch preserved in debris. After dropping tons and tons of water in Balm Fork, south of town, the storm proceeded northeast. Passing over Willow Creek there was no letup in the deluge-Willow Creek and Balm Fork merge just above the residential section of Heppner. At 5:30 the downpour abruptly ceased. By this time, runoffs had begun to fill stream beds of the steep drainage area which feeds Willow Creek and Balm Fork. As the streams swelled, water lapped out into the field, picking up hay, timber and livestock. Heavy boulders began to roll in creek channels, gouging deep and wide. When the two creeks merged, they were laden with tons of debris. Fred Krug's laundry, a two-story structure built across Willow Creek, resisted the raging mass for several minutes. The waters built higher. Krug, his wife, and four children were swept to their death when the laundry collapsed, unleashing the torrent upon the southeast residential portion of town. Many families inside their homes did not hear the flood crest coming because of thunderclaps which continued after the rain stopped. Because it was extremely wet outside, and since it was the dinner hour anyway, most families remained indoors after the downpour, unaware that an avalanche of water descended upon the town. Those who saw and heard the angry waters were not much luckier-an ankle deep overflow of mud which preceded the main wall of water hindered their frantic rush to the hills. Women, burdened by long dresses soaked with water, were especially hard-pressed to |
