THE TRAGEDY THAT STRUCK THE TOWN
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When Club Superintendent awoke on May
31, he noticed that Lake Conemaugh had risen two feet over night and was rising
about an inch every ten minutes. He was very concerned and started having the
members who were at the Club start trying to fill in the dam to try and raise
the top of the dam. Knowing the telegraphs were down, track men began searching for the
trouble to try and alert the town. John Park went searching for problems
and began trying to warn the town, he sent the first telegraph at 11:30 in the
morning on May 31, and operator Emma, received the message, but with telegraph
lines down due to the storm, she could only send it 4 miles down the line. Telegraphs were
made for long distance communication by transmitting signals through wires
between stations. Back in the day, telegraphs were used to alert people of the
town to prepare for certain weather conditions (Google Definition). The messaged warned that the water from
Lake Conemaugh was spilling over the dam in the center and west side.The warning finally
reached the AO tower between noon and 1:00, which will be the first of three
warnings sent down the valley that day. The AO tower forwarded the warning to
East Conemaugh and Agent Frank Decker in Johnstown. The second
telegraph was sent at 1:00 in the afternoon and the third was sent at 2:30. In
times past, there had been other flood warnings and many scares that the dam
was going to break and that there would be a flood, therefore, this warning of
a flood was not taken seriously. At 3:10P.M., May 31, 1889, the dam broke, and
rushing water began traveling down the valley towards Johnstown. The dam
breaking did not affect South Fork because it was located on a hill side. About
a mile south of the city center, stood a stone bridge used by the rail system.
As water carried debris towards the bridge an unintended dam was created. Due
to the amount of water putting pressure on the stone arch bridge, the water
passed the bridge and continued downstream. Engineer, John Hess put his train
in reverse and began trying to escape the flooding water. He headed back towards town blowing the whistle to try and warn the people of
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East Conemaugh of the
flood. The flood hit Johnstown at 4:10, and in ten minutes, the flood at swept
away the center of the town leaving about 2,200 men, women, and children dead (Charles
Guggenheim, video). Before the flood, the population of Johnstown was 30,000
(Richard Hambright, Interview). The Johnstown flood of 1889 was claimed the
second highest in death rates. The first was the Galveston Hurricane in 1900
that hit the Coast of Texas. After the flood, there were still some buildings standing,
like the iron works, but overall, the town was devastated and had nowhere to
live. There was 45 acres of debris at the stone arch bridge which caused an
unknown fire to break out that lasted for three days which alone killed 80
people. The living began to slowly
emerge from hiding out, but many in fear of not knowing where their loved ones
were and what parts of their life no longer remained. Many bodies lay under the
debris and one of every three bodies found would never be identified. People
began searching for their family members. Husbands looking for wives and
children, wives looking for husbands and children, and children looking for
their parents. Ninety-nine whole families had been wiped out by this flood. Sadly,
124 women were left widows, 98 children lost both parents, and 198 men lost
their wives. One women lost her husband and seven children. One man lost his
father, wife, and eight children. Bodies drifted as far as Cincinnati and bodies
were found as late as 1911 (Facts
About the Johnstown Flood). Many people
fled the town because they had no reasons holding them back, however, there
were some people who were determined to rebuild the town that they call home
(Charles Guggenheim, Video).