Imagine a busy Memorial Day Weekend in the late 1800's in a booming industrial town. Relentless rain is inundating the festivities and rivers are steadily rising, slowly drenching everything in sight. Overall, the locals and visitors are in good spirits, making the best out of a bad situation with good humor and determination. Looming 14 miles away from this bustling coal-and-steel town, a reservoir holding 20 million gallons of water is reaching its breaking point. Just as darkness falls, the dam catastrophically fails, and the scant warnings to the valley below have not been heeded by those responsible for calling the alarm. By the time the water has traveled the 14 miles to the Johnstown's center, it hits with the force of Niagara Falls. This is the true story of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

Powerful, poignant and devastating...David McCullough gives his readers a thoroughly researched and vivid account of a careless disaster. On the first day of the Johnstown disaster, 2209 lives would be lost, with many more succumbing to the elements, their injuries, and disease during the recovery and rebuild of Johnstown. The most devastating part? The horrors that these folks experienced could have been completely avoided if more effort and money had been invested in restoring the dam at the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club--or better yet, if such a precariously placed man-made lake didn't exist at all. When precautions are thrown out the window, and engineering recommendations are blatantly ignored, nature's weather events almost always prevail, and often at a great cost to human life and livelihood. The most disgusting part? The victims of this calamity played no part in creating it.

Several of the biggest names of the late 1800's--including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick--were members of the elite South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club. Lake Conemaugh, the gem of this secret retreat, was located behind the South Fork Dam. While these infamous folks did make several "repairs" to the South Fork dam, the majority of the effort was done simply to improve their recreational activities. Fish screens were placed at the spillway to prevent their future catches from swimming downstream. Critical discharge pipes that were removed by the previous owner were not reinstalled, rendering the lake impossible to drain for repairs or during flood events. The dam itself was lowered and flattened for the ease of transportation to the club. All of these factors, in addition to a freak weather event, combined to create one of the worst disasters of the time.

How did those who caused this horrendous event initially respond? The most generous of them recommending donating 1000 blankets to the victims. The least sympathetic denied that the dam ever failed. Despite some years of claims and litigation, the club and its members were never found to be liable for monetary damages.

This being said, there was also triumph in the midst of tragedy. People throughout the world poured donations into the devastated valley, help arrived in droves, and train cars brimming with invaluable goods made the arduous trek into the region. The city rebuilt, and the survivors overcame an incredible ordeal.

The Johnstown Flood offers a powerful and timeless historical lesson to all of the people who read the story and perhaps even visit the site today: there is danger in "assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility [that] they are necessarily behaving responsibly."

"Many thousand human lives–
Butchered husbands, slaughtered wives,
Mangled daughters, bleeding sons,
Hosts of martyred little ones,
(Worse than Herod’s awful crime)
Sent to Heaven before their time;
Lovers burnt and sweethearts drowned,
Darlings lost but never found!
All the horrors that hell could wish,
Such was the price that was paid– for fish!"
--Issac Reed

*2209 - killed
*750 - unidentified dead
*99- families totally wiped out
*1600- homes destroyed

These are just a few of the horrific statistics resultant from the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889 which is one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history. My favorite historian, David McCullough, provides a complete description of the event, beginning with the biggest storm in the area's history on May 30 to the aftermath which took years of recovery.

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a steel town, was located in a valley fourteen miles below an earthen dam erected by the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, a private retreat for the wealthy from nearby Pittsburgh. The club had dammed the area on the mountain to create a large lake for their recreational pleasure and repairs were done periodically as the dam was not structurally sound. The people of Johnstown were in constant fear that the dam would break and when the huge rain storm of May 30 struck the area, their fears became reality. A mountain of water approximately 45 feet high thundered down the valley and Johnstown was doomed.

There is so much in this book that it is impossible to give it justice in a review........the loss of families, unbelievable rescues, miraculous escapes, bravery, blame, and the aftermath of the flood. McCullough has done amazing research and, as with all his books, the descriptions will grip the reader. I highly recommend this amazing book.

Note: The GR page indicates that I have read this book twice, which I have not.

I love every book by this author, and this one is no exception. His extensive research shows through on every page. He keeps his narration objective, and portrays all sides of the disaster.

One thing that stuck out to me was the response of America to the tragedy. A city of 20,000+ had to be completely clothed, fed, and housed, overnight. Starting with Pittsburgh, the country moved heaven and earth to get relief to the victims in an astonishingly fast manner. Thousands of men poured in to help literally rebuild an entire city, from the ground up.

Definitely recommend! A pivotal moment in American history, one that reveals an ugly side and a beautiful side.

If you're ready for a book that reads like an action-packed thriller, this one's for you. In 1889 an earthen dam holding back a large lake, burst and flooded Johnstown, PA and other small towns in the valley below. The lake was made for a fishing club where wealthy people, including Andrew Carnegie, who came from nearby Pittsburgh for a quiet time in their "cottages" , three story structures oozing with money. The inhabitants of the small towns in the valley below had occasionally worried about the dam which had been repaired, obviously badly, a dozen years before. A couple of days of horrendous storms made the lake go over the top and the dam gave way, sending the entire lake down the valley with catastrophic results. The stories of the survivors are riveting, such as the man who jumped from rooftop to rooftop as they whizzed by until finding one that seemed sturdy enough to hold. I couldn't put this down. David McCullough has given us a well written page-turner that you won't soon forget.