Floodwaters and Flames: The 1913 Disaster in Dayton, Ohio

Floodwaters and Flames: The 1913 Disaster in Dayton, Ohio — page 2 — 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

Floodwaters and Flames: The 1913 Disaster in Dayton, Ohio — page 3 — 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

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