Johnstown Flood

For other uses, see Johnstown Flood (disambiguation).

Johnstown Flood
Debris litters and completely covers the ground above a Pennsylvania Railroad bridge. A small bridge and several mills and smokestacks are viewable in the distance.
Debris above the Stone Bridge in Johnstown following the flood
Meteorological history
DurationMay 31, 1889[1]
Overall effects
Fatalities2,208[2]
DamageUS$17,000,000 (equivalent to about $580,000,000 in 2023)

The Johnstown Flood, sometimes referred to locally as Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water.[3] With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River,[4] the flood killed 2,208 people[5] and accounted for US$17,000,000 (equivalent to about $580,000,000 in 2023) in damage.

The American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton and with fifty volunteers, undertook a major disaster relief effort.[6] Support for victims came from all over the U.S. and eighteen foreign countries. After the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dam's owners. This led in the 20th century to American law changing from a fault-based regime to one of strict liability.

The events have been commemorated nationally as well as locally. The Johnstown Flood National Memorial was established in 1964. The National Historic Landmark District of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was established in 1986. Both are administered by the National Park Service.

  1. ^ "Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1904". Library of Congress. World Digital Library. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  2. ^ McCullough, David (1968). The Johnstown Flood. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-20714-4.
  3. ^ Coleman, Neil M.; Kaktins, Uldis; Wojno, Stephanie (2016). "Dam-Breach hydrology of the Johnstown flood of 1889 – challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report". Heliyon. 2 (6): e00120. Bibcode:2016Heliy...200120C. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2016.e00120. PMC 4946313. PMID 27441292.
  4. ^ Sid Perkins, "Johnstown Flood matched volume of Mississippi River" Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine, Science News, Vol.176 #11, 21 November 2009, accessed 14 October 2012
  5. ^ "Johnstown Flood National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  6. ^ "Founder Clara Barton". The American National Red Cross. Retrieved January 25, 2015.