The Great Hopkins Flood of October 1973

Hopkins has had its share of floods over the years. There were floods in 1897, 1947, 1967, and 1973, among others. On October 11th, 1973, the 102 River jumped from its banks and flooded the west end of Hopkins.

Torrential rains for the previous two weeks came to a head. In the past week alone, it had rained eight inches. Finally, that morning, it jumped the banks. Route JJ was under water, as was the football field and park. Roger Swaney kept a pump in operation at his home on the west end of town and saved it from flooding.

Hilton Micks scrambled out of his home early in the morning and stayed at Glen Clark’s. The Jesse Everhart family was forced out of their house at 4 pm, while Kenny Wilcox, Harold Gray, and William Koch all had standing water. Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Keats had to be evacuated by boat.

The J.L. Houston plant was surrounded by water, which came within 6” of flooding their new office. Route 148 from Hopkins to Pickering was closed Thursday due to the flooding and reopened Friday.
North Nodaway had its Homecoming scheduled for that weekend, but they had to move the game to Mound City due to their field being underwater. They had to reschedule it for another date. Acres and acres of soybean crops between Hopkins and Pickering were totally destroyed.