Immediately below the former Lake Ragunda in the Indal River, there was
until 1796 one of the most impressive waterfalls in Sweden, the magnificent Grand Rapids, with a total height of approximately 35 meters. The Grand Rapids made timber floating from the large woods above the fall impossible, as timber was crushed like sticks in the raging whirls.
In the beginning of the 18th century a link for floating timber was planned to
bypass the Grand Rapids. Due to several reasons it was never realised until
Magnus Huss, Wild Huss, a merchant from Sundsvall, was commissioned to
realise the project. His idea was to divert water from Boäng Creek on the west
side to the gravel plateau, damming Lake Ragunda to let the water from the
creek dig a canal, bypassing the Grand Rapids at the river’s present position.
The spring runoff 1796 in the Indal River was so high that the water started
running through the canal, cutting itself through the gravel barrier. A violent wave
cut through the gravel barrier on the night between June 6th and June 7th, the
entire Lake Ragunda was emptied and disappeared in 4 hours.
The river had changed its course. The Grand Rapids had dried out and silenced – and became
the Dead Falls. At a rock treshold, in the bottom of the former Lake Ragunda, a
new waterfall was formed - Hammar Rapids close to Hammarstrand, presently
serving as a hydroelectrric power station.
Water masses continued through the valley, causing a tremendous
destruction. The water devastated everything in its way. Houses, barns, saw mills,
mill houses, boats, woods and fields were taken along the river and destroyed.
Strangely enough, no human lives were taken by the huge wave. Accidents
happened later though, due to erosion and earth slides, caused by changes in the
river bottom.
