INTRODUCTION
How would you feel if your home town
was best known for its history of flooding? The western Pennsylvania city of
Johnstown has the nick name “The Flood City” (Johnstown Flood of 1889 Museum). It is a rainy day on May 31, 1889 the town of
Johnstown, PA suffered a devastating flood that claimed roughly 2,200 lives. Although the record books tell us this was a
natural disaster, the luxurious life style of wealthy business men is partly to
blame for this tragedy that occurred. A combination of heavy down pours of rain
and poor dam engineering lead to a 21 foot wall of water to travel 14 miles
downstream, causing the Little Conemaugh River to destroy a town in less than
ten minutes (Charles Guggenheim, Video).