today we're looking at the johnstown flood
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you'll find more resources that go with many of the bell ringer videos may 31st 1889 one of the
most catastrophic disasters in american history hit the small town of johnstown located in west
central pennsylvania the flood resulted in the deaths of over 2 000 residents of johnstown
as well as over 15 million dollars in property damage with 1600 homes and businesses destroyed
to many the causes of the flood are seen as a metaphor for the growing divide during the
gilded age between the wealthy and working class americans fourteen miles to the east of johnstown
on the connimal river in the allegheny mountains was the south fork fishing and hunting club
the exclusive club had several homes built around a 400 acre lake that had been created by the club
by rebuilding an old dam on the western side of south fork lake several prominent wealthy elite
from pittsburgh pennsylvania belonged to the club such as industrialist andrew carnegie south fork
lake although less than 20 miles away had an elevation almost 450 feet higher than johnstown
for several years throughout the 1880s the dam holding in the lake had sprung several minor leaks
and several inspectors had looked at the dam and urged the members of the fishing and hunting club
to reinforce the dam but the members of the club had done nothing on may 30th 1889 heavy rain moved
into the area around johnstown it's estimated that between 6 to 10 inches of rain fell between may
30 to may 31st on the morning of may 31st elias unger the president of the south fork fishing and
hunting club could see that the lake was about to breach or spill over the top of the south fork dam
several men attempted to relieve the pressure on the dam by digging ditches to allow water to flow
out but their efforts were too little too late at approximately 2 50 in the afternoon the south
fork dam burst releasing 20 million tons of water into the kanema river valley within barely an hour
the entire lake had emptied out the tidal wave of water was between 30 to 40 feet high and was
barreling through the valley at over 40 miles per hour the giant wave of water moved through
the valley tearing down bridges washing homes away ripping up fences electrical and telegraph
poles carrying away livestock and people several witnesses said it looked less like a wave of water
and more like a huge hill rolling over and over just to the east of johnstown a stone
railroad bridge slowed the approaching wave of debris however this momentary obstacle resulted
in the wave of water building up more pressure and when the bridge collapsed the force of the
wave was now even stronger as it slammed into johnstown at approximately 4 pm within a matter
of minutes the entire town was decimated many residents were washed away as they attempted to
get to higher ground or buried under tons of debris some residents survived by scrambling
to the roofs of their homes or by floating on pieces of debris another stone bridge on the
west side of johnstown turned into a temporary dam as so much debris piled up against it that
it actually created a second wave when the water reached the stone bridge and then that came back
at johnstown soon after at the stone bridge a fire broke out that would burn for three days and kill
as many as 80 people but slowly the water receded leaving a ghastly scene of destruction in its wake
the total killed in the flood was 2209 which was the highest number of civilians killed in
a single event in american history at that point interestingly most of the first responders to
johnstown were morticians and undertakers to deal with the enormous number of dead
of the over 2 000 lost lives over 700 or one-third of those killed were never identified
99 entire families were killed in the flood soon after the flood relief efforts were organized with
over 3.7 million dollars raised across the united states and the world in relief of johnstown the
flood would be the first major disaster that clara barton and the newly formed american red cross
would respond to barton remained in johnstown for five months helping to feed and shelter those
displaced by the flood in the wake of the disaster many began to question how much responsibility
the members of the south fork fishing and hunting club needed to take for the incident
investigations looked into the club's neglect of the dam but in the end no one was charged
with any crimes today the former south fork fishing and hunting club is now the johnstown
flood national memorial so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching