Pine Creek Flood of 1986 was like a flood never seen before and one man never came home and is still missing

There has been flooding along Pine creek since settlers first moved to the area but in 1986  it would turn out to be a killer as 8 people lost their lives and one man William Gamble would never be seen again.




I remember that day well and its continual  bolts of lightning striking bolt after bolt after bolt hitting all over the north hills as I looked to the north hills from my home.
I had customers with lighting damage to there equipment I could not get to because so many roads where cut off by flooding and I would have to wait til the next day .
What I saw was horrific as I went thru Etna along route 8 and they where pulling vehicles out.
They where also looking for William Gamble and not find him some one even took an old 3 wheel Unimog  and early ATT  into creek to look but gave up after the tires flattened .
Some suggested he did not drown but decided to disappear and use the flooding to his advantage but he has never been heard from again and no man leaves his tools and money behind.
He very well could have been carried all the way down 8 and thru Etna to the river there was that much water moving.
No bones nor any trace of William has ever been found and there have been several stream improvements and dredging done to prevent it from happening again. But no closure for the family of William Gamble .

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