This week marks the 47th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek flood. In this video, West Virginia musicians Mike and Carrie Kline perform the song “Buffalo Creek” by Ruth Baker and Doug Yarrow in the Baker family Kitchen. The lyrics describe the tragic flood of February 26, 1972 that killed 125 people and left more than 4000 people homeless in Logan County West Virginia. Three coal waste dams owned by Pittston coal company failed. Although the company reached a legal settlement with survivors, no new laws were passed to regulate coal waste impoundments, and today hundreds of coal waste impoundments still threaten Appalachian coalfield communities.
Buffalo Creek performed by Mike and Carrie Kline