"A Roar Like Thunder..." The Johnstown Flood of 1889

Johnstown Pennsylvania Information Source Online ^ | National Park Service - US Dept. of the Interior

[TaxRelief]

"A Roar Like Thunder..."

On June 1,1889, Americans woke to the news that Johnstown, Pennsylvania had been devastated by the worst flood in the Nation's history. Over 2,200 were dead, with many more homeless. When the full story of the flood came to light, many believed that if this was a "natural" disaster, then surely man was an accomplice.

Johnstown in 1889 was a steel company town of Germans and Welsh. With a population of 30,000, it was a growing and industrious community known for the quality of its steel. Founded in 1794, Johnstown began to prosper with the building of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal in 1834 and the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Company in the 1850’s.

There was one small drawback to living in the city. Johnstown had been built on a flood plain at the fork of the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers. Because the growing city had narrowed the river banks to gain building space, the heavy annual rains had caused increased flooding in recent years.

There was another thing. Fourteen miles up the Little Conemaugh, 3-mile long Lake Conemaugh was held on the side of a mountain - 450 feet higher than Johnstown - by the old South Fork Dam. The dam had been poorly maintained, and every spring there was talk that the dam might not hold. But it always had, and the supposed threat became something of a standing joke around town.

But at 4:07 p.m. on the chilly, wet afternoon of May 31, 1889 the inhabitants heard a low rumble that grew to a "roar like thunder." Some knew immediately what had happened: after a night of heavy rains, the South Fork Dam had finally broken, sending 20 million tons of water crashing down the narrow valley. Boiling with huge chunks of debris, the wall of flood water grew at times to 60 feet high, tearing downhill at 40 miles per hour, leveling everything in its path.

Thousands of people desperately tried to escape the wave. Those caught by the wave found themselves swept up in a torrent of oily, muddy water, surrounded by tons of grinding debris, which crushed some, provided rafts for others. Many became helplessly entangled in miles of barbed wire from the destroyed wire works.

It was over in 10 minutes, but for some the worst was still yet to come. Darkness fell, thousands were huddled in attics, others were floating on the debris, while many more had been swept downstream to the old Stone Bridge at the junction of the rivers. Piled up against the arches, much of the debris caught fire, entrapping forever 80 people who had survived the initial flood wave.

Many bodies were never identified, hundreds of the missing never found. Emergency morgues and hospitals were set up, and commissaries distributed food and clothing. The Nation responded to the disaster with a spontaneous outpouring of time, money, food, clothing, and medical assistance.

The cleanup operation took years, with bodies being found months later in a few cases, years after the flood. The city regained its population and rebuilt its manufacturing centers, but it was 5 years before Johnstown was fully recovered.

In the aftermath, most survivors laid the blame for the dam's failure squarely at the feet of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. They had bought the abandoned reservoir, then repaired the old dam, raised the lake level, and built cottages and a clubhouse in their secretive retreat in the mountains. Members were wealthy Pittsburgh steel and coal industrialists, including Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, who had hired B. Ruff to oversee the repairs to the dam. There is no question about the shoddy condition of the dam, but no successful lawsuits were ever brought against club members for its failure and the resulting deaths downstream.

Source: National Park Service - US Dept. of the Interior

[TaxRelief]

A little historical perspective...

[Fierce Allegiance]

History had a good show on this last night. There were other full-length shows in the past. Amazing stuff.

[dfwgator]

But they didn't have CNN back then, don'cha know?

[dfwgator]

I'm sure President Bush's great great grandfather had something to do with it. </sarcasm>

[GregoryFul]

And we PA residents are still paying a substantial "Emergency Johnstown Flood" tax on liquor.

[TaxRelief]

Still?

[uncitizen]

and no electricity and no phones. and probably not many drug jones'.

[Skeeve14]

Just look back to the 70's in India where 250k died in one flood alone.

[Reagan Man]

The great Johnstown flood of 1889 is remembered as the worst disaster by dam failure in American history. In fact, it was the greatest single-day civilian loss of life in this country before September 11, 2001.

There was also a flood in Johnstown in 1936 and 1977.

1936

On March 17, 1936, Johnstown experienced a devastating flood caused by heavy runoff from melting snow and three days of rain. Before the waters receded the following day, the flood had risen to 14 feet in some areas. About two dozen people died in the flood, while 77 buildings were destroyed-- nearly 3,000 more were severely damaged. Property damages were estimated at $41 million.

The disaster became the catalyst for major federal support to rehabilitate Johnstown. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) mustered every available man in a four-county area to provide assistance-some 7,000 men and 350 trucks were set to the task of digging out the town. After the flood wreckage had been cleared, long-term public works programs began, such as replacing sidewalks, roads and bridges.

But Johnstowners wanted more, and the White House was swamped with 15,000 letters from local people pleading for help. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded by touring Johnstown, and authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to channelize the rivers through town, at a cost of $8.7 million. The goal of the Local Flood Protection Program was to increase the capacity of the rivers to prevent future flooding.

1977

A line of severe thunderstorms stalled over Johnstown on July 20, 1977, dropping as much as a foot of rain in some areas. Small streams - Solomon's Run, Sam's Run, Peggy's Run - carved new channels and smashed through expressways, apartment buildings, factories and homes. An earthen water supply dam collapsed at Laurel Run Reservoir, one of several dams that failed. The waters overflowed the channel system in Johnstown that was to have left the city "flood-free." However, according to later estimates by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the water level could have been as much as 11 feet higher if the channel system had never been built.

The Red Cross, Salvation Army, other non-profit agencies, the state and federal governments, and private individuals rushed to help. On July 21, President Jimmy Carter declared the worst-hit counties a federal disaster area (Cambria, Somerset, Indiana, Bedford, Westmoreland, Clearfield, and Jefferson; a few days later, Blair was added). The National Guard was mobilized, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers arrived to assist in debris removal and demolition of non-salvageable buildings.

The death toll would reach 85, while property damages reached the $300 million mark. Hundreds of people were left homeless, and took shelter in churches, schools, fire halls and even dormitories at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. After the immediate crisis was over, many small trailer home parks were established to accommodate those left homeless.

Over the next year, the federal government spent some $200 million in the area, rebuilding damaged public facilities and lending funds or giving grants to property owners for repairs and construction.

The 1977 flood was a blow to Johnstown's increasingly fragile economy. Many downtown firms damaged by the flood did not reopen or moved to the suburbs. Employment at Bethlehem Steel dropped by 4,000. Between 1970 and 1980, the city's population dropped from 42,221 to 34,221, a 19.4% decline, and the 1977 flood is a major reason why.

[scouse]

Questions: To what place are they going to pump the flood water? It is now such a poisonous and toxic melange that it cannot be pumped back into the Mississippi. Is there a large water treatment plant nearby?

[TaxRelief]

Good info. The question is the same one that faces Johnstown periodically: Should they rebuild or relocate?

In both situations, the areas are located directly below a large body of water.

[School of Rational Thought]

And I have yet to hear anyting about the destruction of Galveston, Texas.

I suppose it would diminish the uniqueness of the story.

[Tijeras_Slim]

David McCullough wrote an excellent book on the flood.

[TaxRelief]

Here's some good info on decontamination technologies.

[scouse]

Thanks for the heads up. I worked in an oil refinery for 28 years and we couldn't move any untreated liquids without complying with a boatload of government regulations.

[BunnySlippers]

The Wall Street Journal did a story on the Johnstown Flood yesterday. Yes, looters and lawlessness ... and rebuilding.

[TaxRelief]

The tragedy in 1900 in Galveston was not a result of dam failure. Galveston is not below sea level or a large body of water. Most of the deaths were caused by the storm surge rather than the high winds.

Storm surge is the main cause of death in hurricanes. With advanced warning and evacuation of coastal areas, death from storm surges can be minimized.

[pepsionice]

There are no historians on staff at CNN...and they'd be terminated if they ever explained American history to the public. There are dozens of major events in US history where massive numbers of Americans died. You just don't hear comparisons though. They drag you along on CNN...like a yellow journalism episode...making you crave more of their story. And you finally wake up and realize that the story is more broad than CNN can ever explain...and thats when you give up and switch to FOX.

[sandbar]

>>>It is now such a poisonous and toxic melange that it cannot be pumped back into the Mississippi. Is there a large water treatment plant nearby?>>>

That's the huge question. I think this dilemna has humans stumped. They would contaminate Lake Ponterchain which has a large fishing industry. I wouldn't eat fish out of there if they pumped it in the Lake.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I'll look into that.