Natural Disaster

Barre in the Great Flood of 1927

In November 1927 over a 39-hour period a total of 9 inches of rain fell in the area surrounding Barre Vermont. Barre sits in an area described by the author as a huge catch basin, and the rivers and brooks feeding them could only filter so much rain at one time before overflowing their banks. The tragic outcome wasn’t a loss of property, it was that 63 individuals would lose their life due to the flooding. This book provides an accurate eye-witness account of the flooding and is filled with pictures of the aftermath. It is free to read or download.

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The Johnstown Pennsylvania Flood

An in-depth history of the Johnstown Pennsylvania Flood, complete with many images, both drawn and photographed, maps, and videos depicting the horrors of the flood. – On May 28, 1889, a storm formed over Nebraska and Kansas, moving east. When the storm struck the Johnstown-South Fork area two days later it was the worst downpour that had ever been recorded in that section of the country. The US Signal Service estimated that 6 to 10 inches (150 to 250 mm) of rain fell in 24 hours over the entire section. During the night small creeks became roaring torrents ripping out trees and debris. Telegraph lines were downed and rail-lines were washed out. Before daybreak the Conemaugh River that ran through Johnstown was about to leave its banks…

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Stories of the Flood

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis War, death, cataclysm like this, America, Take deep to thy proud, prosperous heart. E’en as I chant, lo! out of death, and out of ooze and slime, The blossoms rapidly blooming, sympathy, help, love, From west and east, from south and north and over sea, Its hot

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Hairbreadth Escapes

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis So vast is the field of destruction that to get an adequate idea from any point level with the town is simply impossible. It must be viewed from a height. From the top of Kernville Mountain just at the east of the town the whole strange panorama

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Digging for the Dead

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis A party started in early exploring the huge mass of débris banked against the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge. This collection, consisting of trees, sides of houses, timber and innumerable articles, varies in thickness from three or four feet to twenty feet. It is about four hundred yards long,

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Pathetic Scenes

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis Some of the really pathetic scenes of the flood are just coming to the public ear. John Henderson, his wife, his three children, and the mother of Mrs. Henderson remained in their house until they were carried out by the flood, when they succeeded in getting upon

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New Tales of Horror

Last Updated on July 9, 2013 by Dennis The accounts contained in the foregoing chapters bring this appalling story of death down to June 4th. We continue the narrative as given from day to day by eye-witnesses, as this is the only method by which a full and accurate description of Johnstown’s unspeakable horror can

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Thrilling Experiences

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis JOHNSTOWN, Pa., June 3, 1889.–Innumerable tales of thrilling individual experiences, each one more horrible than the others, are told. Frank McDonald, a conductor on the Somerset branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, was at the Pennsylvania Railroad depot in this place when the flood came. He says

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View of the Wreck

Last Updated on February 10, 2013 by Dennis Each visitor to the scene of the great disaster witnessed sights and received impressions different from all others. The following graphic account will thrill every reader: The most exaggerative imagination cannot too strongly picture the awful harvest of death, the wreck which accompanied that terrible deluge last

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