The 1948 Vanport Flood: A Personal Recollection
ON MEMORIAL DAY, May 30, 1948, Vanport — a city of 18,000 people — was destroyed in the matter of a few hours by floodwaters from Smith Lake and the Columbia River, which broke through the SP&S; north-south railroad line landfill. As I began to write this article, the memories and images of that day …