The Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred on December 30, 1970, shortly after noon and resulted in the deaths of 39 men. As was often pointed out in coverage of the disaster, it occurred a year to the day after the passage of the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969. Recovery was complicated by the fact that a foot of snow fell on the rural mountain roads at the time of the accident.[1]
It was the deadliest mine disaster in the United States since the Farmington Mine disaster in 1968,[2] and is the subject of Tom T. Hall's song, "Trip to Hyden". Other songs about the disaster include "The Hyden Miners' Tragedy" by J.D. Jarvis, issued as a 45 RPM on the independent Sunrise label (Hamilton, Ohio), and "The Caves of Jericho" by The Band from the album "Jericho" released November 2, 1993 under the Rhino label.