The Johnstown Flood of 1889 - An Analogy

The Johnstown Flood of 1889. It happened when an old dam above the town was turned into an exclusive lake resort for Carnegie, Mellon and pals - the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club. They were warned repeatedly the old dam hadn't been repaired properly and too much rain would cause it to break. No one seemed to care - in fact, people in the town joked about it. Finally, with enough rain, all hell broke loose sending 20 million tons of water crashing through the valley at 40 mph, straight into Johnstown with all the debris it collected along the way. Warning telegraphs were sent downstream in time, but most people paid no attention. It was all over in 10 minutes, killing over 2000 who desperately tried to escape but couldn't. The flood changed that valley and the town forever. No lawsuits were ever brought against those who created the faulty lake.

I read the book about the flood when I was about 14 years old. It had meaning to me because I knew the area well, growing up not too far away. If you've ever been there, the Conemaugh Valley and the surrounding mountains are beautiful. It was difficult for me to imagine all that water rushing through there, destroying everything in it's path.

Anyway, part of the book has always stuck in my mind. There's an account of a passenger train that was making its way through the valley, but higher up on the side of the mountain. Those on the train watched in horror as the angry water rushed through the valley below them and then passed them - knowing full well where it was headed, and knowing there wasn't anything they could do to let the people of the town know. They were completely helpless, and completely heartbroken.

I just read the post about Ellsberg's prediction that the day after another 9/11, our rights will be gone. For some reason I thought of the Johnstown Flood, the people who warned the dam would break and were laughed at, and the people on the train that watched it happen and could do nothing.

Right now, I feel a kinship with those wise people who warned of the poor dam reconstruction when I think about the state of affairs in this country. I can't help but feel it's only a matter of time before The United States of America and everything it stands for is completely destroyed. There are brave individuals like Ellsberg and those of us on DU who warn, but the American people are not taking the warnings seriously. They scoff, joke, and say "it can never happen here". They don't see the signs and that all it will take is one heavy rain to start the 'flood'.

Just like the Johnstown Flood, it will be over in the blink of an eye, and once it starts, there will be no stopping the deluge - it will be unstoppable. Then, we will all be like the people on that train, watching it happen, knowing we are helpless to do anything about it. And just like Johnstown, the United States of America and its people will never be the same.


If you're interested in learning more about the Johnstown Flood, here are some links:

http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/history.html
http://smoter.com/flooddam/johnstow.htm
http://www.nps.gov/jofl/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671207148/102-8307609-3035325?v=glance&n=283155
(book - David McCullough)

That is how I feel, no one wants to know what I know.

I'm from Ligonier, btw. My sister has furniture and pictures that were in the flood as she married into an old Johnstown family. I remember the Jets too :D

-Hoot

I grew up in Altoona - don't live there anymore though. When I was a kid we went to Ft. Ligonier a few times.

Cool your sister has those mementos from the flood. :hi:

My bro-in-law's grandfather or great grandfather was a surgeon at the time. The only thing he saved was his gall stone collection.

I still go back for Ft Ligonier Days and now and then.

-Hoot

"Then, we will all be like the people on that train, watching it happen, knowing we are helpless to do anything about it. "

We are not helpless NOW-- we just act like we are.

(I know what you mean, tho). Beautiful post. Thank you. K&R :applause:

your heritage when you grow up there. I believe lawsuits were brought against the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, but they were dismissed or otherwise lost in court.

have held, but as ownership changed hands, maintainace and the knowledge to keep it safe disapated. IIRC some of the slipway design was removed and sold for scrap at one point.

and sold for scrap.

There are lots of us here at DU.

There were two other major floods in Johnstown, 1936 and more recently 1977 (which was three years after I moved away from the area).

http://www.johnstownpa.com/History/hist21.html

The dams that surround Johnstown, stretching throughout the Conemaugh Valley, were unsuspecting accomplices in the Great Flood of 1977. They were duped by the instigator - the rain.

When they failed, six dams poured more than 128 million gallons of water into the Conemaugh Valley Twenty million gallons were unleashed on Johnstown when the South Fork Dam burst in 1889.

A phenomenal amount of rainfall - 11.82 inches In 10 hours was too much for both the dams and the sewers in the Conemaugh Valley The rainfall and the dam failures created the Great Flood of 1977. snip

The dams were simply overwhelmed. After overtopping, water eroded the earthen embankments. There was total failure of five dams. The sixth, Cambria Slope Mine 33, retained about two-thirds of its contents.

The dams had not shown any defects in past inspections and no trouble was reported in them by the Pennsylvania Dept. Of Environmental Resources (DER).

Col. Max Janairo Jr., district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers - Pittsburgh office, said sufficient resources to control the amount of water that Johnstown received in rainfall July 19th and 20th are not available. No dams are constructed to contain such a quantity of water received in such a short period of time." snip

I'd say Johnstown is not a really super safe place to live...

Lots of people died. I was working downtown at the hospital that summer, during college break. That storm was awful, so scary.

It always stuck with me, even though I wasn't older than six or seven. My dad explained everything to me with the model they had, and it just chilled me to the bone that people knew it was dangerous and did nothing to fix it.

Apt analogy, I think.

I didn't mean to post and run, but my daughter had a fender bender and I had to take care of that. She's fine but her car's a mess.

There's a lot of people here from that area - cool. I grew up in Altoona - home of the Horseshoe Curve. :hi:

eighteen years. Beautiful area. But the last time I was up there, I found that H-burg and Altoona had grown to the point that it was difficult to figure out where Altoona ended and H-burg began.

(Tigers are dynomite, Tigers are dynomite! Let's go! }( )

Guess what? They're getting a new mall! My mom is so excited she can hardly stand it. That whole area out near the old mall has changed dramatically. I actually lived (my parents still do) in Logan Township, right outside the city limit on Altoona's east side. When I was a kid, going to Hollidaysburg seemed like forever! :D

My uncle lives on Monahan Lane. :hi:

Valley Mall had just been built. I've heard, somewhere along the line from family that still live there, that it burned down a few years back and was rebuilt.

The last time I was up, there were very few hotels/motels in the area and getting a room was almost impossible.

Since we live in Tourist Central, USA (Florida), my husband thought that all one would have to do was to go to downtown Altoona and choose a place to stay. I told him not to even think about downtown Altoona, but he wouldn't believe me. (It always ticks him off when I'm right. :D )

My great-grandfather was the manager of Gable's Department Store - THE place to shop when there was a downtown. I spent a lot of time there. Since the RR dried up, the area has really suffered and it's only gotten worse as manufacturing jobs have gone away too.

Your husband had no idea, did he? ;-)

little motel in Duncasville that had a construction crew staying there. Loud music, partying and drinking most of the night. We left early the next morning and looked for another motel. Just managed to get a room in a Knights Inn on Pleasant Valley Road.

Altoona has gone to the dogs. Even in te day of King Rail Road, it was not a rich place except for the Rail Road barons. Did you ever vist Baker Mansion? The RR magnates lived the life for sure, while everyone else eaked out a living as best they could.

history of the red cross and in it she tells about the many disasters she cared of after the civil war and one of them was the johnstown flood. it was very interesting reading her eyewitness account of how they helped the people who lived through it and the recovery of victims.
very interesting book.

Indiana, Pa here, Greensburg before that. Had a friend visit last weekend and took him to the museum and then to St. Michaels to see the remains......small world!

seems to like it there just fine so far. Parents are in Altoona. Yes it is a small world! :hi: