Buffalo Creek Disaster Summary

The big shots want to call it an act of God.” As the coal company shirked their responsibilities, tempers flared throughout West Virginia. West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler was furious that the organizations responsible for the flood were not taking responsibility for their actions. Coal companies had been exploiting impoverished mining communities for years and it was time to take a stand. Hechler argued that it was unacceptable that the Bureau of Mines and other federal agencies had not expressed concern for the safety and well being of the miners and their families. Hechler expressed the well-known sentiment that the miners and other residents of coal mining communities are “prisoners of the coal industry.”
The community of Buffalo Creek was torn apart in the aftermath of the flood. Many people like Robert Albright lost the majority of their family. Robert Albright was a seasoned miner who lived in the Lorado community with his wife and two sons. Robert had left his shift after a sudden power shut down and drove home. He was shocked to see the rushing black water demolishing homes and raced home to check on his family. Robert arrived at his home to find the house completely swept off of its foundation and his family was gone. Unfortunately, the

The sense of community and safety was undermined by the flood and affected the way the survivors viewed their surrounding environment. The survivors were afraid of a similar event happening again and tearing down their recovering community. This event reflects the savage and untamed characteristic of nature in our lives. Although the Pittston Company tried to keep massive amounts of water from flooding the valleys below, they could not prevent the rain from falling that eventually caused the flood. As humans, we try as hard as we can to tame nature and bend it to our will but nature will always win in the