Sixty-nine years ago

Water rages downstream past the town of Coulee Dam in this 1948 photo showing the west bank of the Columbia River. During the 1948 flood, extensive damage was done to the riprapped slopes on both banks for nearly a mile downstream. To protect critical areas, government forces worked around the clock for nearly two weeks, hauling replacement riprap. The discharge on this date was 535,000 cubic feet per second.-June 1, 1948 photo