Johnstown Flood of 1889

The flood of Johnstown was caused by The South Fork Dam, collapsing and releasing 20 million tons of water. The Dam collapsed because it was not maintained by the owner, who was also the owner of the The South Fork Country Club. The Owner was suppose to maintain the dam by fixing and regulate the relief pipes, but that was not done. If the dam leaked the country club owner would just put dirt and straws to stop the leak. Then there was one of the largest rainstorms in history causing the dam to overflow. There were efforts to relieve water from the dam, but non were sufficient. The dam eventually collapse about 2 hours after the last effort to relieve it. 20 million tons of water was drained in about 20 minutes from the dam. It took about an hour for the water filled with debris to reach Johnstown. The downstream of water and debris took out entire villages on its way to Johnstown. The Downstream finally ended when the debris could not go past the stone bridge. The stone bridge saved the lives for many people caught in the downstream as a way to stop them from flowing to the unknown. It took about 3 months to clean up the debris, with dynamite and army support working day and night. The death toll was 2,209 (one of the largest number of American civilian deaths from a disaster), this was also one of the American Red Cross first relief efforts with raising 3.7 million dollars. There is now a national park and museum in Johnstown about the flood in 1889. Johnstown was later hit by floods but nothing as serious as the one in 1889.