Few disasters in history were able to be as easily prevented and had such a large causality figures as the Johnstone Flood which occurred in 1889. In is an incident that few people know about but has had a significant impact on how we look at preparedness and mitigation in the Emergency Management field.
The City of Johnstone, located in Pennsylvania was established in 1800 near the Conemaugh River and had in consequent years attracted many Welsh and German immigrants who worked for the Pennsylvanian Railroad and the Cambria Iron Works. Adjacent to the city, 24 Kilometers up the East Conemaugh River is South Fork Lake, which was approximately 144 meters higher than Johnstown. Containing the South Fork Lake was the 22 meter tall south fork damn, constructed between 1838 and 1856 during a public works project.
The River contributed to the great prosperity of Johnstown by providing the primary means of transportation for goods and personal travel. The major industrial goods produced in Johnstone were Iron and Coal, and these were transported by the river. What once was a small township in the early 1800’s quickly became a flourishing steelmaking city with a population in excess of 30,000.
The rivers of Johnstone which are its lifeblood have also been one of Johnstown's greatest adversaries; this is especially true as its population increased. While the population grew and the city branched out it repeatedly encroached the adjacent rivers. Most if not all of the residential and business areas in the city center were situated on this flood plain. These areas were flooded on a regular due to snows melting and rainfall throughout the 19th century. The first major flood at Johnstown occurred in 1833. During this flood...
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... the dam, leaving the workers to use just mud and some wood to try to reinforce the weakened dam. Further the fish screen that was installed to ensure that the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club did not lose any fish to the dam turned out to be a major catalyst in the dam’s final defeat. The failure of the dam to let off pressure due to the debris stuff in these net made what could have been avoided a certainty.
As George Santayana famously said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. This appears to be prophetic seeing the events that played out during both the Johnstone flood and Hurricane Katrina. However with proper plans and infrastructure in place, appropriate inspection and maintenance, and an accurate and up to date emergency notification system, it is very feasible that we can in the future break this deadly trend.
In 1900, Pyrmont was an important port and industrial area, with a population of almost 30 000 people. There was a wide range of industries and services present including wharves, dockyards, warehouses, abattoirs, wool stores, railway yards and even an incinerator for the disposal of Sydney’s waste. It was deemed a working-class suburb with a predominantly Irish/Catholic population. As the income for Pyrmont was only modest, semi-detached cottages were the most common type of housing present.
I am from a small town called Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania. It is along the Delaware River, about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Bristol Borough was founded in 1681. This is the states third oldest borough, that was once a busy river port with important shipbuilding activities (Cohen 438). It is predominately residential, with the exception of Mill Street, the community's traditional commercial street. It includes fine examples of many major styles and idioms, reflecting the community's long history and its importance as a transportation and commercial center (Owen 133). The 28-acre Bristol Industrial Historic District includes the original town of Bristol and the residential area that extends northeast along the bank of the Delaware River (Owen 132). The Bristol Industrial Historic District is a significant collection of the factory and mill complexes containing elements dating from 1875-1937 (Owen 133). Among the mills is the Grundy Mill Complex. It is a visual representation of industrial growth of Bristol Borough. This mill was run by Joseph R. Grundy. The dramatic scale of later buildings stand as the source and monument to the wealth and power of Joseph Grundy (Owen 145). Joseph Grundy was the proprietor of the Bristol Worsted Mills, and one of the most prominent manufacturers and businessmen of Bucks County (Green 252). The Bristol Worsted Mills no longer run but the building is still standing. Bristol owes a lot to Joseph R. Grundy for his contributions to the people and the town itself.
In 1855, miners discovered Gold in the Colville mines of northeastern Washington Territory. Newspapers such as the Oregonian began running daily advertisements to attract miners into the region. Exciting articles with bold titles of “Colville Gold Mines” exclaimed that, “with a common pan we made $6, $8, $10, and as high as $20 per man!” This news created an influx of white settlement to Washington. Territorial Governor, Isaac I. Stevens encouraged the settlement and proposed to consolidate fourteen tribes w...
Eller, Ronald D. Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1982. Print.
Since the days of Lewis and Clark men have dreamed of harnessing the "Father of Waters" in the interests of commerce and development. The long struggle which ensued required incredible ingenuity and determination on the part of engineers as well as enormous capital investment. The Mississippi River Commission, established in 1897, was the first federal program designed specifically to meet these requirements, and early systems, instituted by the Army Corps of Engineers, saw much success. Technological advancements in the fields of transportation, flood control, and natural resource management were needed and, eventually, emerged to provide the level of control possible today. This report will discuss the technological transformation of the upper Mississippi river and the motivation behind it from the middle 1800's.
In Chicago’s early days of rising to become a major US city, its population exploded, causing the city to modernize quickly and businesses to cut corners to keep their edge. The river soon became the dumping ground for both sewage and toxic waste dumped by the slaughter houses. By demand of citizens, a canal was built “which later would be named the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal (Hansen, pg. 41). The proposed canal “called for an excavation that woul...
Shappee, Nathan. The History Of Johnstown and the Great Flood of 1889. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg, 1940. Print.
Imagine that a family is sitting at home watching a calm game of baseball, when suddenly they realize that a massive wall of water is approaching the neighborhood. Where did this flash flood come from, a reader might ask? The wall of water was made by the raging winds and immense power of Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew was the second most expensive storm in history that destroyed over 250,000 homes in the states of Florida and Louisiana alone. Hurricane Andrew was not predicted to make landfall, so when it did many civilians did not have any ideas that the Hurricane was coming until it was almost too late. Hurricane Andrew also caused many short and long term effects in the ecosystem and local economies.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
Marcus, Irwin. Jeanne Bullard, and Rob Moore, "Change and Continuity: Steel Workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, 1880-1895," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 111, 62-75
McCullough explains how Johnstown became an example of ‘The Gilded Age’ industrialization prior to the 1889 disaster. The canal made Johnstown the busiest place in Cambria County in the 1820s. By the 1850s the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Company began, and the population increased. There were about 30,000 people in the area before the flood. The Western Reservoir was built in the 1840s, but became generally known as the South Fork dam. It was designed to supply extra water for the Main Line canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh. By saving the spring floods, water could be released during the dry summers. When the dam was completed in 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad completed the track from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and the canal business began its decline. The state offered to sell the canal, the railroad company bought it for the right of ways yet had no need to maintain the dam, which due to neglect, broke for the first time in 1862. McCullough stresses that man was responsible for the...
Before the locks and dams were even created, the Army Corps of Engineers had to first fix the river. As said before, the Upper Mississippi was a dangerous place. Boats would get caught on trees, large rocks, (and) the water levels would fluctuate from dangerously low to dangerously high. To avoid rapid flooding at extreme lows on the river, the Army Corps of Engineers
... middle of paper ... ... What can we do to be prepared for future natural disasters? The federal government began increasing the height and strength of the levees shortly after Katrina, and millions of dollars have been spent on coastal restoration programs.
Aberdeen and Hoquiam are two of the oldest logging, sawmilling, and paper-manufacturing towns in the Northwest. Paper-producing companies, like Weyerhaeuser, ITT Rayonier, and others, have their mills here. (Fodor's 139) Logging used to dominate Aberdeen. But business has been declining lately and "layoffs are turning Aberdeen into a ghost town." One of the biggest mills wh...