Quick Facts about Johnstown Flood
- The Flood took place on May 31, 1889.
-2,209 people perished in the Flood -- 99 entire families, 396 children under the age of 10, and 777 unidentified victims.
-There were 1600 homes lost, 280 businesses destroyed, and $17 million in property damage as a result of the Flood.
-A body, which was identified as a Johnstown Flood victim, was found in Steubenville, Ohio, and sent back to Johnstown for burial.
-Population of Johnstown in 1889 was 10,000; the population of Johnstown and surrounding communities was 30,000.
-The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was chartered in 1879 and had 66 members which were listed in an 1889 edition of THE JOHNSTOWN TRIBUNE. Club members included several prominent members of the financial, industrial, and political communities in the Pittsburgh area. Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie were among the members of the Club at the time of the Flood. The dam at South Fork was built between 1838-1853 as part of the Pennsylvania Canal System. After the Pennsylvania Railroad constructed its first rail line across the state, the dam was no longer used and was later sold to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The dam was 72 feet high and 900 feet wide.
-The distance between the destroyed dam and Johnstown was 14 miles; the average speed of the wave, on it's trip to Johnstown, was 40 miles per hour. The wave was 35-40 feet high at its crest as it hit Johnstown.
-Due to heavy rains, the dam contained 20 million tons of water before it gave way. The level of the lake had risen two feet overnight. Four square miles of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed. The volume of water that carried debris into Johnstown was equal to that which goes over Niagara Falls in 36 minutes.
-A total of $3,742,818.78 was collected for the Johnstown relief effort from within the United States and 18 foreign countries.
-The American Red Cross, organized in 1881 by Clara Barton, arrived in Johnstown on June 5, 1889. The Johnstown Flood was the first major disaster relief effort for the Red Cross and Clara Barton herself was among the relief workers who came to Johnstown.