Floodwaters and Flames: The 1913 Disaster in Dayton, Ohio
Already De storatio number of citienna nursday and President John Downtown Dayton Ohio In the early twentieth century tely notified the militia of And it to comply fully KRUG Inces of the fe Ense and sufferi greatest suffering He had been intens this city know what is me on at the helm with all means that stricken Day a brighter and a better greatest relief may be imprison First it was the long up inch by inch midnight Th gradually iro UBBO STORI SP Gatde as the to be no hope of a They prefer to T Father Bernar INTRODUCTION Institute a river other officials of said are arries ple nations Itecause the fall DAYTON OHIO SPRING 1913 vacations when it ruck the city the sun were afforded better E story and that was to I and to were ter ing guarters the provisions while Coal dealer Andrew Fox looked out his window on the night of Monday March 24 He could hear the wind howl as it had for days Hurricane force winds of 70 to 90 miles 113 to 145 kilometers per hour had roared into Dayton on Thursday and Friday Telephone and telegraph poles had crashed to the ground An ice storm followed By Saturday most of the telephone wires were downed by ice The rain beat down that Easter Sunday and into Monday mained there for od has ordered trapped by the water can see tering the districts not food U S Life Saving Crew The occupant of every hot 4 FLOODWATERS AND FLAMES ed should remain at quired to build a cesspool in tioned at Lewisville reached Day home unless it is ab yard sufficient large to hold the solutely necessary to mediately began the words of an leave This will great eating
DAYTON CITY Engineer Appointed Victims of Every Section be til Full Author stricken City Being IINNER TAKERS vided For 1 Received meager reports that the Miami Come Fi River was rising rapidly Certainly no general Work Ch flood is expected Public Dayton telegraph operator log entry for 4 a m March 25 OHIO MAT Mr John R P By order of Co it will be the duty merature with His neighbors called him High Water Fox For years he had warned of a possible flood Each time he sounded the alarm his neighbors scrambled to higher and the ground Each time it was for nothing To the residents of Dayton Ohio Fox was like the fabled Boy Who Cried Wolf But Fox was especially worried this time he knew the ground was already saturated from the snowmelt that spring And it didn t look as though the rain was going to let up anytime soon The city of Dayton was built where three tributaries of the Great Miami River ton meet the Stillwater River the Mad River and Wolf Creek Fox worried that the rivers could overflow into the city Dayton was surrounded by hills If people could get to higher ground they would be safe But they would need time and warnings Downtown Dayton was supposed to be protected from flood by 20 foot cleared high 6 meter levees built and rebuilt after several previous floods in the early nineteenth century Most people in town thought the levees would protect them so they weren t worried about the threat of flooding But Fox was had been at any He grabbed his lantern and ran through the rain from his home on North the awards came Main Street to the Herman Street levee He peered at the height of the water and rapidly in all as against the earthen walls The water was only a few feet away from the top It had been me Fox ran through the streets knocking on his neighbors doors and yelling all int leading the way This was the big one the flood he d feared all these years His neighbors either ignored him or laughed and shut their doors He tried calling the police lete receded department It was now four o clock in the morning and the police also ignored with greater Fox s warning Later that morning Fox and his wife Finette packed their Teace and say belongings They loaded what they could into his coal wagon and headed for higher ground headiyuarters refuge at first Irom this alarity as President Patters boilies to the end the on Care Led posters int DAYTON OHO SPRING IS305 With the ice in Bale rations and a By Thursitions Persons familiar wi Astage reas
WATER RUSHES IN At around 8 10 on Tuesday morning water from the Great Miami River and its tributaries rushed into the city at a speed of 25 miles 40 km per hour Church bells rang and factory whistles blew sounding their desperate warnings Frantic people in the flood's path climbed trees A witness recalled One great tree with spreading boughs was so thickly populated with women and children in various colored clothing that it looked like some great Christmas tree hung with huge dolls Others scaled telephone poles to save themselves Those in buildings ran to upper floors and rooftops The scene below was horrifying horses swimming for their lives heads held high Streetcars overturned spilling out passengers Houses swept up in the water rushed past with people clinging to their porches I in The amount of water that rushed into Dayton was about equal to four days of water flow over Niagara Falls 6 FLOODWATERS AND FLAMES
E R INVI Survivors attempt to travel to afety by walking Y from pole to pole across telegraph wires High Water Fox had been right The levees could not hold the water The Great Miami River did the most damage spilling into the heart of the city The flood covered more than 14 square miles 36 sq km of land The coming chapters tell the stories of residents who were caught in the Great Dayton Flood of 1913 Some of these people such as Orville Wright and John Patterson were famous or powerful Others such as Bill Sloan Mary Althoff and Clarence Mauch were ordinary citizens who became known for the roles they played during the flood The story follows the lives of these key residents during three days of the disaster Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday DAYTON OHIO SPAING 1913 1
