On July 19th, 1977, an unusual event occurred, resulting in pure chaos: a thunderstorm stalled over the Johnstown area, dumping 12 inches or more of rain in 24 hours. At the end of the day, per History, 2,209 people were killed, many swept away by the sheer force of the water and that includes 99 entire families and nearly 400 children. Pryor, Elizabeth. 400 children under the age of ten were killed. #Documentary #History #TrueStories Learn With Plainly Difficult The Johnstown Flood happened on Friday 31 May, 1889, after the catastrophic fail. And while there are plenty of reasons for these sorts of horrifying events like war and the murderous nature of mankind one of the main causes of tragedy is nature itself. was loosely based on the Eric Monte-penned film Cooley High. According to the newspaper in Harrisburg, PA, already several villas owned by members of the club have been broken into fragments. Although suits were filed against the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, no legal actions or compensation resulted. They had set the club up as a limited liability company, which meant they couldn't be held personally accountable and that their vast personal fortunes were never in danger. Richard Burkert, president of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, says the research suggests that the dam "was in much poorer shape" than previously known. As law professor Jed Handelsman Shugerman notes, in response, courts began adopting a legal precedent that held property owners liable even for "acts of God" if the changes they'd made to the property were directly linked to those acts. after what went down. It's difficult to imagine just how much water slammed into Johnstown that day. At approximately 3:00 pm on May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam gave way, unleashing 20 million tons of water into the valley below. The public was very frustrated with the delayed release (Coleman 2019). 20 million tons of water rushed down the narrow Conemaugh Valley like The damage would have been less if the water had been able to slip through the viaduct unimpeded. Learn the story through sights of what happened when 20 million tons of water destroyed the area and the effort to rebuild it . after what has happened. Although the 1977 flood was brutal within a seven-county disaster area, the JLFPP flood control efforts kept the flood level about 11 feet lower than it would have been without it. All rights reserved. Once the dam failed at 3:10-3:15, however, such communications were impossible. The festival will take place Aug. 4-5. Whose idea was the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club? An engineer at the dam saw warning signs of an impending disaster and rode a horse to the village of South Fork to warn the residents. Then the debris caught fire, burning some of the flood survivors there to death. Legal action against individual club members was difficult if not impossible, as it would have been necessary to prove personal negligence and the power and influence of the club members is hard to overestimate. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Three separate warnings were sent which might have given people time to get to higher ground but there had been false alarms concerning the dam's failure in the past, and all three messages were ignored. In November 1932, he joined the Nazis elite SS read more, After two years of exploratory visits and friendly negotiations, Ford Motor Company signs a landmark agreement to produce cars in the Soviet Union on May 30, 1929. In these pre-Social Security days, personnel records for firms like Cambria Iron or the Pennsylvania Railroad are not as sophisticated as they are today. The Johnstown Flood became emblematic of what many Americans thought was going wrong with America. Regardless if they were to blame or not, the public resented that the club members provided little relief relative to their respective wealth. After the flood, the public was eager to determine exactly what caused the dam to fail. The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa. So did the grim work of recovering the bodies of the dead. YA, Hamilton, Leni. There were also 16 privately-owned cottages, actually houses of a generous size, along the lakes shores. There was no adequate outlet for excess water, for example, and the club had installed screens over the drainage pipes to stop the fish from escaping. but now many of Johnstown's streets were under 2 - 7 feet of water. Bodies filled morgues in Johnstown and river towns downstream until relatives came to identify them. It's accepted that the flood struck Johnstown proper at 4:07 PM. On May 31, 1889, the Johnstown Flood killed more than 2,200 people in southwestern Pennsylvania when the long-neglected South Fork Dam suddenly gave way. This debris caught against the viaduct, forming an ersatz dam that held the water back temporarily. Pittsburgh, unpublished dissertation, 1940. best swimmers couldn't swim in that mess. It is a true museum, and features an Academy-Award-winning film by Charles Guggenheim called "the Johnstown Flood." READ MORE:The Deadliest Natural Disasters in US History, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-johnstown-flood. However, there was not enough substantial evidence to hold the club legally responsible. In minutes, most of downtown Johnstown was destroyed. The three remembered most happened on May 31, 1889, when at least 2,209 people died, the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936, in which almost two dozen people died, and a third devastating flood on July 19-20, 1977, when at least 85 people died. As theJohnstown Area Historical Associationnotes, the town had been built in a river valley. In our visitor center, we show a National Park Service-produced film, nicknamed "Black Friday," that tries to recreate the Flood. When people think of floods, they sometimes think of slow-rising water and groups of people desperately piling up sandbags to hold back the tide. Undertakers volunteered for the gruesome task of preparing over 2,000 bodies for burial. For most, But one of the greatest challenges was identifying the bodies that were recovered. It was dark and the house was tossing every way. On the day of the flood, the town woke up to find water already rising in the streets from the torrential rains, and everyone moved to the upper floors in order to wait it out. 1JOHNSTOWN, Pa. The house will be rocking at this year's AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival. Doctors, nurses and Clara Barton and the American Red Cross arrived to provide medical assistance and emergency shelter and supplies. He interviewed some of the few survivors to learn what happened during and after the disaster. It took five years to rebuild Johnstown, which again endured deadly floods in 1936 and 1977. What type of story is "The Johnstown Flood"? As the raging waters tore down the river valley moving at speeds as fast as 100 miles per hour at times, everything in its path was torn up and carried along. Work began in August 1938 with extensive dredging and flood control measures. The Johnstown Flood of 1889: The Tragedy of the Conemaugh. People who saw it coming said it looked like a moving, boiling Johnstown was about 14 miles away from the South Fork Dam, and standing in between was the Conemaugh Viaduct. As a result, it flooded at least once or twice every year. A strong surface low pressure of around 1000 mb is centered over Kentucky at this hour and heavy rain is falling . Their quiet retreat from the city life was just a train ride away from Pittsburgh. Find this quaint town amidst the Allegheny region and head straight to the Johnstown Flood Museum to get on first-name terms with this former steel town. is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, until April 28, 1979, premiering as a summer series. Four square miles of Johnstown were obliterated. Hounded by the media, members of the club donated to the relief effort. Whatever happened to Bill Collins? Many members did contribute, but their offerings were minuscule compared to the overall contributions. , (AP Photo/File) (The Associated Press), In this historical photo from May 31, 1889, survivors stand by homes destroyed when the South Fork Dam collapsed in Johnstown, Pa. As officials prepare to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the enormous Johnstown Flood of 1889 that killed 2,209 people, new research has helped explain why the deluge was so deadly. This made it one of the largest reservoirs in the country at the time. They took measurements at the site and interviewed many residents. On May 31, the residents were unaware of the danger that steady rain over the course of the previous day had caused. The Johnstown Flood resulted in the first expression of outrage at power of the great trusts and giant corporations that had formed in the post-Civil War period. (AP Photo), This photo from May 31, 1889, released by the Johnstown Flood Museum shows the destruction along Main Street in Johnstown, Pa., following the collapse of the South Fork Dam that killed 2,209 people. Legal Statement. After years of disuse, John Reilly purchased the dam from the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1875 and operated it for four years. They installed fish screens across the spillway to keep the expensive game fish from escaping, which had the unfortunate effect of capturing debris and keeping the spillway from draining the lakes overflow. Except, there wasn't. For instance, William Shinn became the president of the ASCE just five months after the flood and was one of the primary figures who advocated to keep the report sealed for as long as possible (Coleman 2019). The flood was the first major natural disaster in which the American Red Cross played a major role. As officials prepare to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the enormous Johnstown Flood of 1889, new research has helped explain why the deluge was so deadly. However, there was not enough substantial evidence to hold the club legally responsible. At 3:10 pm on May 31, the South Fork Dam, a poorly maintained earthfill dam holding a major upstream reservoir, collapsed after heavy rains, sending a wall of water rushing down the Conemaugh valley at speeds of 20-40 mph (32-64 kph). Over 1600 homes were destroyed. The State of Pennsylvania built the dam originally to supply water for the Pennsylvania canal. Barton would leave Johnstown a hero. It may have surged to speeds as high as 90 miles per hour. In fact, asABC Newsreports, it's suspected that some of the modifications the club made to the dam contributed to its failure. Though 80 lives were lost in the 1977 flood, it was far less than it would have been if the waters had risen another 11 feet. Entertainments included an annual regatta, theatricals and musical performances. The people of Johnstown sued the South Fork Hunting & Fishing Club over its negligence in maintaining the dam, and since the club was owned by some of the richest men in America, including Andrew Carnegie, you might assume there was a lavish settlement. Survivors clung Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. It took them seven months to finish the report and they did not publish it until 1891. 18 As soon as news of the disaster spread on what had happened to this town, reporters and illustrators from over 100 magazines and newspapers were sent to describe what happened. Slattery, Gertrude Quinn. According to Johnstown citizen Victor Heiser, It is impossible to imagine how these [club] people were feared (PA Inquirer, August 23, 1889). The club never reinstalled the drainage pipes so that the reservoir could be drained. Very little maintenance was performed on the dam during its existence, even though it broke once already in 1862 (this break caused very little damage, as the reservoir was only half full). 2,209 (AP Photo) (The Associated Press), This photo from May 31, 1889, released by the Johnstown Flood Museum shows the destruction along Main Street in Johnstown, Pa., following the collapse of the South Fork Dam that killed 2,209 people. Barton had worked in relief efforts during the Civil War, and she was eager to demonstrate to the world that the Red Cross had a role to play in peacetime as well. He was a prominent businessman in the railroad and steel industries and therefore had an interest in protecting Carnegie and numerous other club members. Even in 1889, many called the old dam and water the "Old Reservoir," as is had been built many decades before. The only time the rivers have flooded the downtown since then was in July 1977, when 11 inches of rain fell over two days, causing six dams to fail. Clara Barton arrived five days later to lead the relief. The impressive dam made of packed-down earth stood 72 feet high and 900 feet wide. It crashed into the barrier and went hurtling back toward Johnstown like a boomerang. I dont think there has ever been a case in this country where such cold-blooded disregard of the interest of others was exhibited as in this instance. The majority of the public attributed the disaster to the South Fork Fishing Club. This book provides a solid overview of the history of Johnstown and an exhaustive history of the Flood. A spillway at the dam became clogged with debris that could not be dislodged. And obstacles on the ground would stop it for brief moments, which meant that people who survived an initial wave would be hit by subsequent waves of equal force at random increments. It flattened a railroad bridge. Then the whole dam broke -- the lake full of water just pushed the dam out in front of it. Testimony Taken by the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1889-1891. But there was one small blessing on the day: Because so many had already fled, only 16 people from Mineral Point died. The Pennsylvania Railroad had repaired it, but did not build it back up to its original height. Through the Johnstown Flood: By A Survivor by Rev. The operators of the dam tried to warn everyone Something inflammable must have been carried along in the debris, because it soon burst into flame, engulfing the bridge in fire. The dam was about 15 miles upstream from Johnstown, Pa., a steel mill town of more than 10,000 people. Philander Knox and James Reed were two powerful attorneys and club members who often defended other members in their lawsuits. The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. Warnings about the safety of the dam had been ignored. The AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival has announced its headliners, Los Lobos and Keller Williams Grateful Grass feat. The dam was about 15 miles upstream from. Work began on the dam in 1838. Train service in and out of Johnstown stopped. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968. As it is, for the people of Johnstown and the surrounding area, May 31, 1889, remains a memory of loss. Recovering the bodies took weeks and cleaning up debris took months. According to the Johnstown Area Historical Association, the wall of water that slammed into the town at somewhere between 40 and 90 miles per hour was 35 to 40 feet in height on average and water lines were found as high as 89 feet, which is almost the distance from home plate to first base in a baseball game. AsThe Vintage Newsreports, when the flood hit the Stone Bridge about 11 miles past Johnstown, that debris piled up and formed a dam of sorts. AsBarton herselfwrites, she stayed in Johnstown for five months and estimated that the Red Cross spent half a million dollars on their relief efforts, which would be more than $10 million in today's money. The small town of Mineral Point, Pennsylvania, was the first populated town hit by the flood and it was totally and completely destroyed. A Photographic Story of the Johnstown Flood of 1889. People tried to flee to high ground but most were caught in the fast water, a lot were crushed by debris. It also suggests that the dam had been designed with two spillways to handle periods of heavy rain, but only one was in use. As coverage of the horror of the event began to recede, the media began to look at the causes of the disaster. If they'd fled for high ground, many of the 2,209 who died in the flood might have survived. As a result, those pipes became clogged with debris. The two squadrons opened fire on each other read more. Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood At 4:07 p.m., Johnstown inhabitants heard a low rumble that grew to a "roar like thunder." Some knew immediately what had happened: after a night of heavy rains, South Fork Dam had finally broken, sending 20 million tons of water crashing down the narrow valley. Andrew Carnegie was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the group . With rebuilding also came questions: How and why did the flood happen? It was brought by human failure, human shortsightedness and selfishness," he said in a 2003 interview. When the South Fork Dam burst on May 31, 1889, the population of Johnstown had already spent their day dealing with floodwaters. 700 of the victims could not be identified. Four Even very deep floods might not seem so scary if you assume they're moving slowly so it's important to know that the flood that hit Johnstown in 1889 wasn't moving slowly. For more, visit the section about the 1889 flood in the Archives & Research section of this site. turned out to be one of the heaviest rainfalls of the 1800s. In The Johnstown Flood, David McCullough gives you all as well as the heart and soul of this heinous catastrophe. The National Park Service and the local Heritage Association are holding a number of free events Saturday and Sunday to mark the 125th anniversary: http://1.usa.gov/1tirLQd, Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The fear of big floods remains. The Cambria Iron Works, Johnstowns major industry and employer, reopened on June 6, just days after the flood. Newspapers all across the country denounced the sportsmens lake. In 1889, Johnstown was home to 30,000 people, many of whom worked in the steel industry. The club owners made small donations to Johnstown relief funds but were never held responsible for the disaster. At least the bridge slowed the water down and caught much of the deadly debris. Looking back over the course of human experience, peace and stability are rare, after all. They left immediately following the disaster, and the club members were largely silent about the tragedy. It had already failed once in 1862. When the dam burst, sending 20 million gallons of deadly water hurtling toward Johnstown, this resignation doomed them. after it happened. After all, water, like everything else, moves faster downhill. One comment published in the Philadelphia Inquirer captures the publics attitude towards the club members. However, people usually only turned to lawsuits as a last resort, since it was nearly impossible to win against the industry titans. Francis P. Sempa is the author of Geopolitics: From the Cold War to the 21st Century and America's Global Role: Essays and Reviews on National Security, Geopolitics, and War. The "Johnstown Flood" was a chaotic result for a small middle class family, natural disasters happen so much in one's lifetime and can be emotionally crippling. One example was the Mrs. John Little lawsuit. It was moving fast very fast. The South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club counted many of Pittsburghs leading industrialists and financiers among its 61 members, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Philander Knox. Some people who had survived by floating on top of debris were burned to death in the fire. people are known to have died in the flood waters. No announcement has yet been observed of the millionaires who constitute the South Fork Fishing Club doing anything remarkable toward bearing the expense of caring for the sufferers and clearing away the debris at Johnstown. Anna Fenn Maxwell's husband was washed away by the flood; she was trapped in the family home with seven children as the water rose. . after last. Residents of Johnstown, and Americans in general, began to turn their wrath toward the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

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