Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889, and was the result of the failure of the South Fork Dam situated 14 miles upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The area surrounding the town was already prone to flooding due to its positioning on the confluence of the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh rivers, and due to the artificial straightening of these rivers for the purposes of development. Then, in the middle of the afternoon of the 31st, the dam burst, allowing the water formerly held back in the 3-mile long Lake Conemaugh to cascade down the Little Conemaugh river.
The inhabitants of the town were caught by surprise as the wall of water bore down on the village, travelling at 40 miles per hour and reaching a height of 60 feet in places. Some, realising the danger, tried to escape, but most people were hit by the surging flood water. Many people were crushed by pieces of debris, and others became caught in barbed wire from the wire factory upstream. For those that sought safety in attics, and for those that managed to stay aloft of the flood water on pieces of floating debris, the worst was to come, as they were forced to wait for hours for help to arrive. Meanwhile, some people who had been washed downstream became trapped in an inferno as debris that had piled up against the Stone Bridge caught fire, killing 80 people. The total death toll for the disaster was 2,200, and clean-up operations were to continue for many years to come. It was one of the worst floods to hit the US in the 19th century.
In the years following the event, many people blamed the South Fork Fishing and Forestry Club for the tragedy as they had originally bought and repaired the dam to turn the area into a holiday retreat in the mountains. However, they failed to properly maintain the dam, and as a result, heavy rainfall on the eve of the disaster meant that the structure was not strong enough to hold the excess water. Despite the evidence to suggest that they were very much to blame, they were never held responsible for the disaster.
References
- David McCullough, "The Johnstown Flood", ISBN 0671207148