| Chapter 1: | Buffalo Creek Before, During, and Soon After the Flood |
Table 1.1. A chronology of some noteworthy events related to the flood.7
| 1947 | Lorado Coal Company opens mine #5 in the hills above Three Forks and starts a gob pile on the hillside. |
| 1964 | Buffalo Mining Company (BMC) purchases the mines and operations of now defunct Lorado Coal Company and builds the first dam and gob pond across Middle Fork. |
| 1966 | BMC builds dam #2 and a second gob pond farther up Middle Fork. |
| 1967 | Dam #2 suffers a partial break. It floods some yards, porches, and base-ments in Three Forks, rips up sections of Route 16 and some railroad tracks, and frightens residents. Pearl Woodrum writes a letter to Governor Hulett Smith asking for the removal of the gob ponds. |
| 1967 | A gob pile at Proctor Bottom collapses, fills basements with mud and gob, and sweeps away several automobiles. |
| 1969 | BMC builds dam #3 and another gob pond farther up Middle Fork. |
| 1970 | The Pittston Company (Pittston), a New York-based conglomerate, purchases BMC and continues operating the eight mines along Buffalo Creek as BMC. |
| 1972 | FEBRUARY 25 (Friday) |
| 2100H | The U.S. Weather Bureau in Huntington, West Virginia, announces flash flood warnings for the Buffalo Creek area after two days of heavy rains. |
| 2300H | BMC official Jack Kent inspects dam #3 and warns employee Dennis Gibson and other residents at Three Forks of danger. He encourages them to evacuate to Lorado School. |
| Several families evacuate Three Forks to Lorado School. | |
| Off-duty miners from Three Forks start checking on the status of dam #3 every few hours. | |
| Kent phones his boss, Steve Dasovich, and reports his concerns about dam #3. | |
| 1972 | FEBRUARY 26 (Saturday) |
| 0300H | Three Forks resident Maxine Adkins places an emergency phone call to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, explains that local miners have been checking on dam #3, and warns that it is about to collapse. She asks Deputy Sheriff Spriggs to call out the National Guard. |
| Sheriff Grimmett phones BMC officials at their homes about the reports of danger. He is assured that there is no cause for alarm. | |
| 0500H | Sheriff Grimmett orders his deputies to start a full-scale alert of the sixteen settlements along Buffalo Creek and to advise residents to evacuate to safety. He instructs Deputy Spriggs to notify the National Guard and to request immediate assistance. Spriggs executes the orders. |