Editor,

As Logan County prepares for the 36th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster, many residents are filled with memories of family and friends who were lost in the tragedy. I am one such person.

It has now been more than 36 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster. Many that escaped the flood have now passed on. I would like to reminisce to others about that day.

I was a secretary for Laredo Grade School when the flood struck on February 26, 1972. Otis Ramey was the principal.

The day before the flood we had received a call from the Logan County Board of Education to close the school immediately. It was before lunch and the noon meal had been prepared by the cooks. Mr. Ramey, the cooks and I was trying to get the food into the freezer. I’ll never forget Mr. Ramey’s words to me, “Can you freeze cornbread?” His wife, his mother and Mr. Ramey perished in the flood on February 26, 1972.

Several loved ones perished that day. My sister-in-law and her son perished. She had lost a son 16 months before in Vietnam.

Our church was washed away and also many sisters and brothers of the church.

By the grace of God, several were spared that day. My daughter, Kathy Yeager, worked below the dam. My son, Rick Bailey, who usually played ball in the church yard in the path of the flood. The children who would have been in school, others who would have died had it been at a different time of day.

I retired from the Logan County Board of Education in 1989. I was sent there after the flood.

In memory of Sylvia Albright; Steve Albright; Otis Ramey; Terry Albright and the late Memphis Bailey. He had worked 34 years at Lorado Mining. Also many others that was lost that day and really didn’t know what hit them.

Donna Bailey McNeely

Chapmanville