# SPECIAL EPISODE | Voices from the flood: Survivors reflect on the Teton Dam collapse

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-worth-mentioning-7588143/special-episode-voices-from-the-flood-survivors-reflect-on-the-teton-dam-collapse
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-worth-mentioning-7588143/special-episode-voices-from-the-flood-survivors-reflect-on-the-teton-dam-collapse.md
Podcast: [It's Worth Mentioning](https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-s-worth-mentioning-7588143)
Published: 2026-06-05T12:00:02+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/special-episode-voices-from-the-flood-survivors-reflect-on-the-teton-dam-collapse--72355758
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72355758/voices_from_the_flood_survivors_reflect_on_the_teton_dam_collapse.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3898

## Resource

Fifty years ago today, on June 5, 1976, the Teton Dam collapsed and spilled 80 billion gallons of water into eastern Idaho. The historic disaster buried Rexburg under 5 feet of water at one point and resulted in the death of 11 people. More than 13,000 head of livestock were killed, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. The estimated cost of the damage was around $2 billion, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which built the dam, spent the next 11 years compensating those who were affected. We’re looking back at the tragedy with a special episode of “It’s Worth Mentioning.” Throughout the show, we’ll play several songs taken from “Teton Letters,” a new album commemorating the disaster’s anniversary. Each song on the 17-track album is inspired by an oral history project conducted a year after the flood. The project was a series of interviews with people who lived through it, and the songs tell their story. Teton Letters is a collaboration between Trent Walker, Richard Robison and a variety of local artists. We are including the songs with their permission. Robison made the songs available on Substack here and here . We’ll also be talking with three special guests. The first is Paul Jenkins. He’s the owner of a longtime film and video production company in Idaho Falls and sits on the school board for Bonneville Joint School District 93. Jenkins was in an airplane above Rexburg at the time of the collapse. He captured footage that was later turned into a documentary, which has been shown at the Teton Dam Museum for decades. Jenkins shares his memories of that day, including what he saw, how he helped break the news to national media, and how it affected him personally. Jenkins still has tens of thousands of feet of film, which has never been r…

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