Couple’s Book on Flood Ends Painful Chapter in Their Lives With Message of Hope

A flood that killed Ron and LaVonne Masters’ three sons two decades ago also threatened to drown their spirit, their will to go on.

But the pastor and his wife held onto their faith, just as they had clung to a tree for five hours in the flood of June 9, 1972. They cherish their two daughters who survived--one after hours trapped underwater in an air pocket--and discovered they had other reasons to persevere.

The Masterses have written a book, “some through the flood,” to tell the story of their family and the flood. They hope it will help others deal with grief.

“The thesis is there is recovery, there is hope after all hope is gone,” said LaVonne Masters.

The flooding in and around Rapid City on the edge of the rugged Black Hills killed 238 people and injured more than 3,000. It destroyed more than 1,300 dwellings and 5,000 vehicles.

Among the victims were the Masterses’ sons: Stephen, 12; Jonathan, 8; and Timothy, 2. Daughters Karen, then 14, and JoAnn, 10, survived.

The night of the flood, water began rising around their house near Rapid Creek and they fled in their four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Upstream, Canyon Lake Dam had ruptured.

“The first wall of water caught us,” Masters recalled.

The car floated and was caught in cottonwood trees in about 10 feet of water.

“Quicker than I can tell it, another wall of water came,” Masters said. “In a matter of seconds, the water was up to our necks in this vehicle.”

“My oldest boy, Steve, said ‘Dad, this is all in God’s hands.’ That was the last words we ever heard from Steve.”

Masters kicked out a side window, squeezed out and reached back inside to pull out his wife.

Next, he grabbed Karen, who was holding 2-year-old Timothy. When she came through the opening, the water tore the baby from her arms and he was swept away.

Before Masters could extract the other three children, another wall of water roared through, submerging the vehicle in the blackness.

The Masterses and Karen spent the next five hours or so clinging to the trees.

“If a man never believed in hell, he would believe in it after that night,” Masters said.

A girl trapped in a nearby tree screamed all night. Lightning provided glimpses of bodies, trees, cars, parts of houses and other debris floating past.

Just before daybreak, the water started to drop.

“Suddenly, from beneath our feet, I heard the sound of a voice. I couldn’t believe it,” Masters said.

JoAnn had survived the night in an air pocket at the back of the vehicle. She said her brothers had shared the air pocket, but Stephen eventually stopped talking and then Jonathan was gone.

Masters said he’ll never forget the look of terror in his daughter’s eyes. “It just pierced your soul.”

National Guard troops soon rescued them.

Masters said he threw himself into his work as a pastor, feeling that if he kept busy he wouldn’t have to think about his pain.

“I kept thinking this is a nightmare, a bad dream, and I’ll wake up and the kids will be OK and the sun will shine,” he said. “Suddenly, you realize this was real. Then you have to deal with a lot of things.”

LaVonne Masters has written other books and gives speeches on dealing with grief. Masters said he’s been able to help others in pain because his loss gave him new understanding.

The book on the flood should particularly help other victims of the rushing water, LaVonne Masters said.

“Those of us who are talking about it are bringing to the surface some of the feelings of the other people,” she said. “Maybe there will be some healing of the old scars that didn’t heal properly.”