Toccoa Falls dam break 40 year anniversary Monday

On Monday, Toccoa Falls College and the Toccoa-Stephens County community will remember the night when tragedy struck the college.

40 years ago, on November 6, 1977 the Kelly Barnes Dam above the Toccoa Falls gave way during a heavy rain storm.

A wall of water washed over the dam, flooding the campus and killing more than 30 people, many of them entire families.

Monday morning, a special memorial service in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the dam break and flood at Toccoa Falls will be held at the Grace Chapel and Performing Arts Center.

The service will begin at 10a and President Robert Myers and the Toccoa Falls College community cordially invite everyone to attend this special memorial service.

In addition to the memorial service on campus, WNEG will re-air a half-hour documentary at 5:30p that originally aired in 2002 on the 25^th anniversary of the flood.

The documentary recalls the events of that night from people who were there, and explains how the dam break changed the way dams are built today.

Again, be sure to tune in at 5:30p Monday to hear the WNEG special program: “The Toccoa Falls Flood.”