Dare to Hope!
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Toccoa Falls Flood
Toccoa Falls Flood
(November 6, 1977)
“The death toll climbed relentlessly, but inside the dark, damp chapel survivors sang praises to the Lord. . . . ‘We don’t understand the meaning of it all or the purpose of it. But we feel very strongly that God is in control,’ said A. J. Moser, vice president and dean of the college.”
—Atlanta Journal article on Toccoa Falls flood
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”
—Isaiah 59:19 KJV.”
More Online Resources
Toccoa Falls College historical page on the flood
Toccoa Falls Flood: Hope Remains
The deluge sounded like a freight train roaring out of the darkness in the early morning hours of November 6, 1977. Then came the shouts. “The dam has broken!” A gentle waterfall tumbling over Georgia’s forested Toccoa Falls had become a deadly 30-foot-high wall of water as the dam broke after heavy rain and released a 40-acre lake above.
The flood bolted over the falls and crashed into the valley below smashing trailers, homes, and educational buildings on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, an evangelical Christian school associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Trees were uprooted like match sticks. Cars and house trailers became deadly torpedoes.
People struggled to escape. Some were swept away. Others watched helplessly as members of their own family drowned before their eyes. The families and the school would never be the same. In a flash, 39 men, women, and children were sent into eternity.
As the waters receded, incredible stories began to emerge out of Georgia’s worst natural disaster in almost 40 years. A community of professing Christians had come face to face with the reality of their belief in eternal life and the world was watching to see what they would do.
The Bible says, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:7 KJV). They lost loved ones, but the love of Jesus could not be drowned. Even members of the press and rescue agencies who came to see what remained of the campus could not believe that the survivors had such peace and joy. They had not lost hope because they knew their loved ones were with Jesus. They did not stay bound to the realm of their earthly circumstances. They moved into the realm of the eternal. All of their lives had been a preparation for this hour.
In one trailer, Bill and Karen Anderson had been asleep with their five children when a woman ran by shouting, “The dam has broken!” Within seconds, a huge force slammed against the trailer, tearing off the roof. They cried out to God to help them not to panic and managed to calm their children by telling them to trust the Lord.
When the next blow came the children cried out, “Jesus! Jesus!” The trailer smashed against trees. Bill tossed his oldest daughter, 12, and oldest son, 6, into the branches. Then he heard his wife saying calmly to two of the other children in the hallway of the trailer, “Come on, kids, get ready. We’re going to meet Jesus.” And then they were washed away. Bill knew they were with the Lord.
Bill and his other daughter managed to survive, along with the two children in the trees. When Bill’s unsaved relatives came for the funeral, he discovered that this seeming tragedy had a victorious side.
His sister told him, “I’ve found the Lord.”
His oldest brother said, “I didn’t come here for the funeral. . . . I’m here to see you. I want what you’ve got,” and Bill led him to the Savior.
Bill knew where his wife and children were, and now he knew that his brother and sister would be with them some day in the future. The deaths had already transcended the realm of time and brought the reality of eternity to the earth.
The deluge sounded like a freight train roaring out of the darkness in the early morning hours of November 6, 1977. Then came the shouts. “The dam has broken!” A gentle waterfall tumbling over Georgia’s forested Toccoa Falls had become a deadly 30-foot-high wall of water as the dam broke after heavy rain and released a 40-acre lake above.
The flood bolted over the falls and crashed into the valley below smashing trailers, homes, and educational buildings on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, an evangelical Christian school associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Trees were uprooted like match sticks. Cars and house trailers became deadly torpedoes.
People struggled to escape. Some were swept away. Others watched helplessly as members of their own family drowned before their eyes. The families and the school would never be the same. In a flash, 39 men, women, and children were sent into eternity.
As the waters receded, incredible stories began to emerge out of Georgia’s worst natural disaster in almost 40 years. A community of professing Christians had come face to face with the reality of their belief in eternal life and the world was watching to see what they would do.
The Bible says, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:7 KJV). They lost loved ones, but the love of Jesus could not be drowned. Even members of the press and rescue agencies who came to see what remained of the campus could not believe that the survivors had such peace and joy. They had not lost hope because they knew their loved ones were with Jesus. They did not stay bound to the realm of their earthly circumstances. They moved into the realm of the eternal. All of their lives had been a preparation for this hour.
In one trailer, Bill and Karen Anderson had been asleep with their five children when a woman ran by shouting, “The dam has broken!” Within seconds, a huge force slammed against the trailer, tearing off the roof. They cried out to God to help them not to panic and managed to calm their children by telling them to trust the Lord.
When the next blow came the children cried out, “Jesus! Jesus!” The trailer smashed against trees. Bill tossed his oldest daughter, 12, and oldest son, 6, into the branches. Then he heard his wife saying calmly to two of the other children in the hallway of the trailer, “Come on, kids, get ready. We’re going to meet Jesus.” And then they were washed away. Bill knew they were with the Lord.
Bill and his other daughter managed to survive, along with the two children in the trees. When Bill’s unsaved relatives came for the funeral, he discovered that this seeming tragedy had a victorious side.
His sister told him, “I’ve found the Lord.”
His oldest brother said, “I didn’t come here for the funeral. . . . I’m here to see you. I want what you’ve got,” and Bill led him to the Savior.
Bill knew where his wife and children were, and now he knew that his brother and sister would be with them some day in the future. The deaths had already transcended the realm of time and brought the reality of eternity to the earth.
