The Johnstown Flood

On May 31, 1889, near the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending a massive wall of water down river that killed more than 2,000 people. Known as the Johnstown Flood, it was one of the worst disasters in American history. Situated 14 miles above Johnstown on the Little Conemaugh River, the South Fork Dam held back Lake Conemaugh, a three-mile long, one-mile wide, 65-foot deep lake that was owned by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, a prestigious club which included such notable entrepreneurs as Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. The dam at South Fork had been built between 1838-1853 as part of the Pennsylvania Canal System. After the Pennsylvania Railroad had built its first rail line across the state, the dam was no longer used and was then sold to the club. Due to its location, Johnstown had always been a prime target for major floods. With the Conemaugh, the Little Conemaugh, and the Stony Creek rivers all merging to flow directly through the heart of the town, at least once a year, rivers would overflow into the streets. In the years leading up to the disaster, there had been signs that the dam might break. The foundations of the dam were considered shaky, it had been poorly maintained, and there had been an increasing number of leakages reported, but people had heard the rumors so many times, that they were generally regarded in the same fashion as someone "crying wolf." On May 30th, 1889, unusually heavy rains hit the area. Eight inches of water fell in Lake Conemaugh, and the water level had climbed as high as two feet from the top of the dam. To make matter worse, the rains had also caused the river that ran directly through the city of Johnstown to begin flooding its banks. The following morning the continuing rains increased the height of the lake by an inch every ten minutes. By mid-morning the volume of water had filled the lake nearly to the top of the dam and officials began to fear the dam would fail. By some accounts, men had been sent three or four times during the day to warn people below of the impending danger but the citizens had ignored the warnings. By 2:30pm the water began to pass over the top of the dam and and shortly thereafter, the stones in the center of the dam began to sink. Around 3:10 pm the remainder of the dam wall dam collapsed. The collapse of the South Fork Dam sent 20 million tons of water roaring downstream toward Johnstown, first forming a wall of water, rocks, and trees and then a rolling mountain of debris 35-40 feet high and half a mile wide. Advancing through the valley the wall of water uprooted everything in its path and scoured the earth to a depth of fifty feet. Traveling at a speed of 40 miles per hour, it swept through the communities of South Fork, Mineral Point, Woodvale and East Conemaugh in a matter of minutes. Johnstown was only 14 miles away from where the dam had broken. The flood hit Johnstown 57 minutes after the dam had first broken. The complete drowning and devastation of Johnstown took less than ten minutes with four square miles of the downtown area completely destroyed.
Thousands of people who had survived the initial flood wave were swept downstream to the old Stone Bridge at the junction of the Little Conemaugh and Stonycreek rivers. Here, accumulating debris piled up against the arches, forming an almost watertight dam of broken houses, trees, train cars, and bodies. Much of the debris caught fire, entrapping 80 people, yet saving many others who would have been swept farther down river. The official death toll registered 2,209 people killed or presumed lost. Among the dead were 99 entire families, 396 children under the age of 10, and 777 unidentified victims. There were 1,600 homes lost, 280 businesses destroyed, and $17 million in property damage as a result of the Flood. The American Red Cross, which had been organized in 1881 by Clara Barton, arrived in Johnstown on June 5th, five days after the disaster. This was to be the first major disaster relief effort for the Red Cross and Clara Barton herself was among the relief workers who came to Johnstown. The Red Cross contingent built hotels for people to live in and warehouses to store the many supplies the community received. By July 1st, stores reopened on the Main Street for business. Surprisingly, no city, county, or state legislation was enacted to protect people from future disasters of this nature. Lawsuits were filed against the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, but. in keeping with the times, the courts viewed the dam break as an act of God and no legal compensation was made to the survivors.