First of all the Johnstown Flood took place in Johnstown, Pennslyvania in 1889. The surprising factor to me was that the flood was cause by an overflow from rain water of The South Fork Dam just 14 miles from this town. My first research question was originally going to be "Who/What was the flood named after?" but that just seems too easy. So I figured I would try to find out if the owners or workers of the South Fork Dam knew that the heavy rainfall was coming, and this is what I found:
Because the dam had held for so long the flood was ruled as a natural disaster so, no lawsuit was filed. The knowledge of what the weather would be like was very skim to what it is today, so surely in 1889 no one would have had any idea that a horrible rainfall would occur. And why worry if this dam has been holding up for so long? Clearly no one was quite worried until the dam actually failed to hold up.
So you're basically saying that the owners figured that if it held up for so long, it would keep up for another storm? If so, that was a terrible mistake that might just be one of the reasons so many people drowned. Of course, in 1889, as you said earlier, weather predictions weren't anything compared to today's.
ReplyDeleteI too am surprised. I would have expected the flood to come from somewhere else. Like the canal or... well, something else.
As it is, this kind of accident occurs often. No one worries about something (even remotely, like the old dam) dangerous since nothing has yet happened. Then some kind of accident (or thunderstorm) happens and people finally worry.
Good work on your blog! :)