On this day in 1889

JOHNSTOWN FLOOD KILLS 2,209

On this day in 1889, the Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 people.  The flood occurred when the South Fork Dam, 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, collapsed after heavy rains.  The dam had recently been bought and modified by the local hunting club, which had turned the area into a vacation retreat for notable millionaires, including Andrew Carnegie.  

As the storm worsened, a dam engineer noticed that a spillway was blocked and might cause the dam to collapse.  He tried to notify all local townspeople but telegraph lines were down or the warning was ignored because there had been many previous false alarms.  

Ninety-nine entire families died in the flood, including 396 children. One hundred twenty-four women and 198 men were widowed, 98 children were orphaned. One-third of the dead, 777 people, were never identified; their remains were buried in the "Plot of the Unknown" in Grandview Cemetery in Westmont.

Clara Barton led 50 volunteers in the Red Cross’ first major relief effort.  

The Johnstown area suffered from several subsequent floods until 1936, when the Army Corps of Engineers reworked the river and declared it “flood free.”  However, in 1972, a “100 year flood” killed 78 people, caused $200 million in damage, and rendered 50,000 people homeless.

In 2016 a hydraulic analysis concluded that the hunting club’s pre-1889 modifications to the dam severely weakened it, rendering it unable to withstand severe storms like the one which caused the Johnstown Flood.

Wikipedia