Johnstown Flood

On May 31, 1889, a historical disaster in Johnstown, Pennsylvania was devastating to many people when the dam gave way and flooded the town, fortunately there were relief efforts to save the town. South Fork Dam failed to retain the water and demolished the town. This disaster caused many deaths and destroyed several homes. The American Red Cross arrived in Johnstown to help the town in their time of need.

The South Fork Dam was a monumental structure, when it was demolished by a flood on May 31, 1889. The dam was fourteen miles away from Johnstown, about two miles long, a mile wide, and sixty feet in depth. “Lake Conemaugh was held back by this dam (South Fork Dam).” “This dam was owned by the South Fork hunting and fishing club (Facts About The Johnstown Flood).” Once, when the lake was half full, the dam broke in 1862 due to unstable construction. Since the dam was never fully repaired after the breakage, it affected the rupture of the dam in 1889. “The South Fork dam contained up to twenty million tons of water before it gave away (Facts About The Johnstown Flood).” This dam was a major trigger in the event of the Johnstown Flood.

The Johnstown Flood brought immense damage to the town and its surrounding citizens. This flood killed over two thousand people, which some were announced unknown. “Sixteen thousand homes were destroyed, as well as four square miles of downtown Johnstown (Facts About The Johnstown Flood).” After the damage, the search for bodies was an obligation.

Searching for bodies lasted up until 1911, and as far away as Cincinnati. “As said before, many bodies were found to be unknown; Seven-hundred and fifty bodies were buried in an area known as the ‘Plot of Unknown’ located at the Grandview Cemetery in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (Facts About The Johnstown Flood).” “The wave of the dam that hit Johnstown was measured at a force of forty miles per hour, which was powerful enough to sweep away locomotives-weighing up to one hundred and seventy thousand pounds- as far as forty-eight hundred feet (Facts About The Johnstown Flood).” The vast damage of the flood made it devastation to society, who was affected enormously.

“Shortly after the flood took place, the American Red Cross organization, founded by Clara Barton in 1881, arrived in Johnstown on June 5, 1889; it was the first major peacetime disaster