Great Flood of 1913

Last updated
Great Flood of 1913
OHdayton-flood1913-4thst.jpg
Main Street in Dayton, Ohio, during the flood
DateMarch 23–26, 1913
Location Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia
Deathsest. 650
Property damage$333,000,000

The Great Flood of 1913 occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain. Related deaths and damage in the United States were widespread and extensive. While the exact number is not certain, flood-related deaths in Ohio, Indiana, and eleven other states are estimated at approximately 650. The official death toll range for Ohio falls between 422 and 470. Flood-related death estimates in Indiana range from 100 to 200. More than a quarter million people were left homeless. The death toll from the flood of 1913 places it second to the Johnstown Flood of 1889 as one of the deadliest floods in the United States. The flood remains Ohio's largest weather disaster. In the Midwestern United States, damage estimates exceeded a third of a billion dollars. Damage from the Great Dayton Flood at Dayton, Ohio, exceeded $73 million. Indiana's damages were estimated at $25 million (in 1913 dollars). Further south, along the Mississippi River, damages exceeded $200 million. Devastation from the flood of 1913 and later floods along the Mississippi River eventually changed the country's management of its waterways and increased federal support for comprehensive flood prevention and funding for flood control projects. The Ohio Conservancy Act, which was signed by the governor of Ohio in 1914, became a model for other states to follow. The act allowed for the establishment of conservancy districts with the authority to implement flood control projects.

Contents

The storm system that produced the flood in late March 1913 began with a typical winter storm pattern, but developed characteristics that promoted heavy precipitation. Strong Canadian winds stalled a high-pressure system off Bermuda and delayed the normal easterly flow of a low-pressure system. In the meantime, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moved into the Midwestern United States through the Mississippi River valley as a second Canadian high-pressure system arrived from the west, creating a low-pressure trough that stretched from southern Illinois, across central Indiana, and into northern Ohio. At least two low-pressure systems moving along the trough caused heavy rain over the four-day period between March 23 and March 26. As the storm gained strength on Sunday, March 23, high winds, hail, sleet, and tornadoes arrived in the Great Plains, the Southern United States, and the Midwestern United States. Major tornadoes hit Omaha, Nebraska; Lone Peach, Arkansas; and Terre Haute, Indiana. On Monday and Tuesday, March 24 and 25, 3 to 8 inches (76 to 203 mm) of rain fell in Ohio, Indiana, and southern Illinois. Major rivers in Indiana and Ohio experienced heavy runoff. Downstream, where the Ohio River enters the Mississippi River, the water level broke record highs to that time as the water flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico. By Tuesday, March 25, the Ohio River and its tributaries flooded cities such as Indianapolis, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Youngstown, and Columbus, Ohio. Dayton, Ohio, was particularly hard-hit. On Wednesday, March 26, the storm moved east into Pennsylvania and New York, while heavy rain continued in the Ohio River valley. The heaviest rainfall, 6 to 9 inches (150 to 230 mm) or more, covered an area from southern Illinois into northwestern Pennsylvania. As the storm continued eastward, flooding began in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Virginia. The Potomac River overflowed its banks in Maryland.

State and local communities handled much of their own disaster response and relief in 1913. The American Red Cross, a small organization at that time, focused its efforts in more than one hundred of Ohio's hardest-hit communities, including Dayton, and served six of Indiana's hardest-hit counties. Ohio governor James M. Cox called on the state legislature to appropriate $250,000 ($7.71 million in 2023 dollars) for emergency aid. Indiana governor Samuel M. Ralston appealed to Indiana cities and other states for relief assistance. Many communities cared for their own flood victims with Red Cross assistance, charitable donations, and contributions from local businesses, industries, and service organizations.

Affected areas

The storms that created the floods in 1913 continued over several days and produced record-breaking rain. It remains Ohio's "largest weather disaster" [1] and triggered Indiana's worst flood on record. [2] Storm-related flooding affected more than a dozen states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. The same weather system caused major tornadoes in the Great Plains, the South, and the Midwest, most notably in Omaha, Nebraska; Lone Peach, Arkansas; and Terre Haute, Indiana. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

DelawareOhioFloodMarch291913loc.jpg
Flooding in Delaware, Ohio on March 29, 1913

Dayton, Ohio

Ludlow Street in Dayton, Ohio Ludlow Street - North - Dayton Ohio great flood of 1913.jpg
Ludlow Street in Dayton, Ohio
The Great Flood in Hamilton, Ohio 1st National Bank Building (16772859777).jpg
The Great Flood in Hamilton, Ohio

Between March 23 and 25, heavy rains and rising waters from the Great Miami River burst levees on Dayton's south side and flooded 14 square miles (36 km2) of the city. Dayton's downtown streets experienced water 10 feet (3.0 m) deep. [8] On March 26, as floodwaters reached their crest, Dayton's business district suffered more damage after an early morning fire and gas explosion. [9] An estimated 123 people were killed in Dayton. Downstream in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, about 100 people died after water 10 to 18 feet (3.0 to 5.5 m) deep flowed into its residential neighborhoods. [8]

Columbus, Ohio

In Columbus, the Near West Side and parts of downtown experienced severe floods. Approximately 93 people died in the flooding. The event was described by historian Ed Lentz as "the worst catastrophe in the history of Columbus". [10]

Indianapolis, Indiana

Washington Street bridge collapse in Indianapolis Washington Street bridge collapse, 1913.jpg
Washington Street bridge collapse in Indianapolis

Approximately 6 inches (150 mm) of rain fell on Indianapolis over the period of March 23 through March 26, inundating nearly a 6-square-mile (16 km2) area and causing five known deaths. [11] [12] [13] [14] On March 26, floodwaters estimated at 19.5 feet (5.9 m) above flood stage destroyed Indianapolis's Washington Street bridge, the main connection over the White River. [11] High water forced 4,000 to flee their homes on the city's near west side when an earthen levee failed and a 25-foot (7.6 m) wall of water flooded an area nearly a 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) wide around Kentucky Avenue and Morris Street. [15] [16] The city's transportation and water supply were disrupted for nearly four days in flooded areas and as many as 7,000 Indianapolis families lost their homes. [11]

Contributing factors

Weather

The weather pattern that triggered heavy rains over the Midwest began after strong Canadian winds stalled a high-pressure system off Bermuda and delayed the normal easterly flow of a low-pressure system. As moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moved into the Midwest through the Mississippi River valley, a second Canadian high-pressure system arrived from the west and squeezed the low into a trough that stretched from southern Illinois, across central Indiana, and into northern Ohio. At least two low-pressure systems moving in quick succession along the trough dumped one rainstorm after another. [13] The weather pattern changed little over the four-day period of March 23 through March 26 and caused heavy rain over the Ohio River valley. The heaviest rainfall, 6 to 9 inches (150 to 230 mm) or more, covered an area from southern Illinois into northwestern Pennsylvania. [17] Louisville, Kentucky, experienced the storm's heaviest recorded rainfall rate of 1.05 inches (27 mm) in twenty-eight minutes on March 25. [18]

Other factors contributing to the extensive flooding were the storm's size, its duration, and existing ground conditions. Rivers and streams affected by the flood were at near normal or below flood stage levels two days prior to the major flooding in Indiana and Ohio. Some experts argue that the ground may have become quickly saturated, resulting in runoff and flash flooding. [18] Others have suggested that frozen ground in tributary watersheds contributed to the flooding along the rivers. [5] Up to 8 inches (200 mm) of snow followed the heavy rain in northern Indiana. [1] In some areas thawed ground and a lack of snowpack may have minimized the destruction from runoff and flooding. [18]

Watersheds

Rivers rose several feet above previous high-water marks in Ohio and Indiana after heavy rains at the headwaters of the region's rivers moved downstream. The area's rivers experienced heavy runoff, especially along the Muskingum, Scioto, Great Miami, and Wabash rivers. The Scioto River basin in central Ohio recorded a flood level of 21 feet (6.4 m), which remains a record nearly 4 feet (1.2 m) higher than its other recorded floods. The Great Miami River and its tributaries, including the Whitewater River in Indiana, rose at least 10 feet (3.0 m) higher than previous flood levels in many locations. Downstream from Indiana and Ohio, where the Ohio River enters the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois, the water level reached 54.7 feet (16.7 m) and broke record highs to that time. High waters continued to flow south to the Gulf of Mexico, causing some levees to fail in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. [1] Water from flood-crested rivers flowing into the Mississippi River in April set new height records downriver [19] and caused cities such as Memphis, Tennessee; Natchez, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; and elsewhere along the Mississippi to prepare for flooding. [7] [20]

Timeline

The storm system that produced the flood in late March began with a typical winter storm pattern, but soon developed special characteristics that promoted heavy precipitation. [21] [22]

Friday, March 21

Saturday, March 22

Sunday, March 23

Monday, March 24

Tuesday, March 25

Wednesday, March 26

Thursday, March 27

Friday, March 28

Relief efforts

In the immediate aftermath of the floods businesses and factories shut down, schools closed, government services were disrupted, and train travel was delayed or stopped throughout the Midwest. Newspapers in many communities were not published during the storm. Theaters around the country were showing pictures of the flood devastation in Dayton and other Ohio cities and tornado damage in Omaha, Nebraska, within weeks after the disaster. [33]

In 1913, years before the federal government provided significant disaster relief, state and local communities handled their own disaster response and relief. [34] Cleanup efforts were made even more difficult with increased fire and health risks, flood-damaged communications systems, disrupted transportation networks, debris-littered streets, and flooded utility systems. [35]

The American Red Cross was still a small organization in March 1913, with a few full-time employees at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and about sixty volunteer chapters in the United States, when President Woodrow Wilson named it "the official disaster-relief agency for the federal government". [35] [36] Flood reports in the country's newspapers carried an appeal from the president to help victims with contributions to the Red Cross. Wilson also sent telegrams to the governors of Ohio and Indiana asking how the federal government might help. Indiana governor Samuel M. Ralston did not receive President Wilson's telegram offering federal support due to flood-damaged communications. [37] Ohio governor James M. Cox replied to the president with a request for tents, rations, supplies, and physicians and sent a telegram to the Red Cross requesting its assistance in Dayton and surrounding communities. Red Cross agents and nurses focused their efforts in 112 of Ohio's hardest-hit communities, which included Dayton, primarily along Ohio's major rivers. The Red Cross had less of a presence in Indiana, where it established a temporary headquarters in Indianapolis and served the six hardest-hit Indiana counties. Red Cross disaster relief in other regions of the United States, with the exception of Omaha, Nebraska, and Lower Peach Tree, Alabama, was limited or nonexistent. [35] [38]

Governor Cox called on the Ohio legislature to appropriate $250,000 ($7.71 million in 2023 dollars) for emergency aid and declared a 10-day bank holiday. Cox, who was also the publisher of the Dayton Daily News , provided the press with daily briefings and appeals for donations. [39] Governor Ralston appealed to Indiana cities and other states for relief assistance and donations of money and supplies. Ralson appointed a trustee to receive relief funds and arrange for distribution of supplies. Approximately one-half of Indiana's counties cared for their own flood victims. Railroads, most notably "the Big Four, the Pennsylvania Lines, and the Vandalia," put their equipment at the Indiana governor's disposal and had work crews rebuild the state's rail network. [35]

The Chicago Association of Commerce wired $100,000 to the Red Cross on March 26, becoming one of many organizations that contributed funds for flood relief. [40] Rotary clubs across the United States contributed more than $25,000 ($771,000 in 2023 dollars) to a Rotary Relief Fund, which was established for flood relief in Indiana and Ohio. [13] It was the organization's "first cooperative disaster relief effort". [41] In some areas independent local organizations helped with relief efforts. The Rotary Club of Indianapolis, chartered just a few weeks before the flood, and the Rotary Club of Dayton, chartered six months earlier, assisted relief efforts within their communities by helping to provide medical support, transportation, and shelter. Other Rotary clubs in the United States and Canada donated funds, supplies, and medicine. [41] In Colorado stage actress Sarah Bernhardt and fellow actor John Drew, Jr. gave a benefit performance that contributed $5,000 to a $41,000 relief fund already raised by Colorado residents for Indiana and Ohio flood victims. [42]

Deaths

The exact death toll from the flood and its aftermath may never be known. [43] One estimate of storm-related deaths from March 21 to March 28 is more than 900. [38] Flood deaths in Ohio, Indiana, and eleven other states (Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) [44] are estimated at approximately 650. [38] [45] [46] [47] This death toll places the flood of 1913 second to the Johnstown flood of 1889, when more than 2,200 people died, as one of the country's deadliest floods. [6] [7] [38] [48] Official reports of flood deaths are inconsistent. The bodies of some of the victims were never found and not all fatalities were reported to agencies collecting flood statistics. Some disaster-related deaths from injuries or illness were not listed in official counts if they occurred after publication of official reports. [49] An estimate of 467 flood deaths has been quoted for Ohio, with the official death toll range between 422 and 470. [30] [38] Dayton's official death toll was not certain, but Ohio's Bureau of Statistics listed eighty-two people, while one flood historian puts the number at ninety-eight. Others reported Dayton's death toll at nearly 300, but this figure may have included other neighborhoods and cities. [50] Estimated deaths for flood victims in Indiana is 100 to 200. [4] [30] [38] Flooding in the Great Miami River basin caused at least 260 deaths, more than in any other river basin. Approximately seventeen people died in flooding in the Whitewater River basin. [1]

Secondary to the flood itself, there were outbreaks of diphtheria and typhus in several flooded areas, such as the area in north-central Dayton, Ohio. It is likely that roughly 2000 additional hospitalizations were the result of these outbreaks, following the more directly physical damage of the flood. Although information for Indiana is not presently available, estimates are that an additional 1000 people were affected in that state.[ citation needed ]

Damage estimates

Damage in Miamisburg, Ohio after the flood Linden Avenue, Miamisburg, after 1913 flood.jpg
Damage in Miamisburg, Ohio after the flood

Damage from the flood was widespread and extensive. The storm destroyed hundreds of bridges and railroad trestles and 12,000 telegraph and telephone poles. Flooding stopped communications between Chicago and New York for a day and a half, disrupted road and rail transportation, and slowed mail delivery. More than 38,000 homes and other buildings, plus thousands of schools, businesses, utilities, and city streets were damaged or destroyed. More than a quarter million people were left homeless. [51]

In the Midwest alone, damage estimates, which one flood historian suggests were understated, were more than "a third of a billion dollars." [52] The Dayton Citizens' Relief Committee's report documented damage in Dayton in excess of $73 million. [53] Damage in Indiana was estimated at $25 million in 1913 dollars. [5] Cairo, Illinois, where its citizens had advance knowledge of the oncoming high water that arrived the week after the Dayton flood, reported no fatalities, but damage estimates there and in smaller communities such as Shawneetown, Illinois, and Caseyville, Kentucky, was in excess of $5 million. [1] Along the Mississippi River damages exceeded $200 million. [6] There were a number of other small communities that were completely devastated and did not report anything, either because they could not or would not. Most of these communities partially recovered, but a few never recovered at all, among these, Lyles Station, Indiana.

Impact

Devastation from the flood of 1913 and later floods along the Mississippi River in 1917, 1927, 1936, and 1937, eventually changed the country's management of its waterways and increased congressional support beyond emergency flood assistance to include national flood control measures. [4] [6] [7] [54]

Federal legislation

Following the flood of 1913, citizens and government officials took a greater interest in comprehensive flood prevention, managing flood-prone areas, and funding for flood control projects that would limit damage and save lives. [55] Congress previously contended that floods were local events and flood control was the responsibility of state and local government. [56] The Flood Control Act of 1917 was the first of several pieces of legislation that eventually led to the creation of the National Flood Insurance Program of 1968, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1979, and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. Federal funding for national flood control projects began slowly in 1917, with Congress authorizing funding for flood control studies in the Mississippi River as part of House Document 308. By 1925 it had been expanded to include other major rivers in the United States. [55]

State and local programs

The Dayton Relief Committee began shortly after the flood of 1913 to raise $2 million to develop a comprehensive flood protection system that would prevent another flood disaster of the same magnitude. [55] The committee hired Arthur Ernest Morgan and his Morgan Engineering Company from Tennessee to design a plan that used levees and dams. [7] [57] On March 17, 1914, the governor of Ohio signed the Ohio Conservancy Act, which allowed for the establishment of conservancy districts with the authority to implement flood control projects. Ohio's Upper Scioto Conservancy District was the first to form in February 1915. The Miami Conservancy District (MCD), which includes Dayton and surrounding communities, was the second, formed in June 1915. The MCD began construction of their flood control system in 1918. The project was completed in 1922 at a cost in excess of $32 million and has kept Dayton from flooding as severely as it did in 1913. The Ohio Conservancy Act became the model for other states, such as Indiana, New Mexico, and Colorado. [7] [55]

Commercial Canal Traffic

While canal systems had by and large fallen into disuse as a result of increased maintenance expense and competition from railroads and burgeoning highways, this disaster put the final nail in the coffin for some commercial canal use, especially in Ohio. The extent of damage to locks, holding pools, and the canals themselves in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania would have been prohibitive to repair, and thus resulted in the final abandonment of several canals in the northeastern United States, including the Miami and Erie Canal and the Ohio and Erie Canal.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Rivers". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "RetroIndy: The Great Flood of 1913". Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Geoff Williams (2013). Washed Away: How the Great Flood of 1913, America's Most Widespread Natural Disaster, Terrorized a Nation and Changed It Forever. New York: Pegasus Books. p.  viii and xi. ISBN   978-1-60598-404-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Trudy E. Bell (16 November 2012). "'An Epidemic of Disasters'" (blog). 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Andrew Gustin. "Flooding in Indiana: Not 'If', but 'When'". Indiana Geological Survey. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "The Great Ohio Valley Flood of 1913 – 100 Years Later" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Christopher Klein (2013-03-25). "The Superstorm That Flooded America 100 Years Ago". History. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  8. 1 2 "March 23–27, 1913: Statewide Flood". Ohio Historical Society. 2006. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 J. David Rogers. "The 1913 Dayton Flood and the Birth of Modern Flood Control Engineering in the United States" (PDF). University of Missouri-Rolla. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Review | 'The Flood': Opera's simultaneous action and multiple time periods dampens dramatic flow". Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  11. 1 2 3 Bodenhamer, David J., and Robert G. Barrows, eds. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 581–82. ISBN   0-253-31222-1.{{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ "Community Profiles: Indianapolis, Indiana". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 Trudy E. Bell (Spring 2006). "Forgotten Waters: Indiana's Great Easter Flood of 1913". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 18 (2). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 15.
  14. ↑ Unconfirmed deaths numbered as many as twenty-five. See Bodenhamer and Barrows, p. 582.
  15. ↑ Eloise Batic; Angela Giacomelli (Spring 2013). "Wulf's Hall: Great Hope in the Midst of the Great Flood". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 25 (2). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 6, 7, & 11.
  16. ↑ Williams, p. 172.
  17. ↑ The area covered approximately 50,000 square miles (130,000 km2) and included a population of approximately five million based on the 1910 census. See "Rainfall & Hydrology". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  18. 1 2 3 "Rainfall & Hydrology". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. ↑ Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 6.
  20. ↑ Williams, p. 283.
  21. 1 2 Trudy E. Bell (25 November 2012). "The First Punch" (blog). 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  22. 1 2 "Other Weather Events in 1913". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  23. ↑ Williams, p. 5.
  24. ↑ Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, pp. 7, 9.
  25. ↑ "Overview of the March 1913 Flood". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  26. 1 2 Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 9.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "The Storms of March 23–27, 1913". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 Trudy E. Bell (23 December 2012). "Be Very Afraid…" (blog). 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  29. ↑ Williams, pp. 23–24.
  30. 1 2 3 Williams, p. viii.
  31. ↑ Batic and Giacomelli, p. 6.
  32. ↑ Williams, p. 282.
  33. ↑ Williams, p. 123–24 and 213.
  34. ↑ Batic and Giacomelli, p. 11.
  35. 1 2 3 4 Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 13.
  36. ↑ Williams, p. 203–4.
  37. ↑ Williams, p. 204 and 208.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Trudy E. Bell (18 February 2013). "'Death Rode Ruthless…'". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  39. ↑ Trudy E. Bell (9 December 2012). "The Villain Who Store The Flood". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  40. ↑ Williams, p. 236.
  41. 1 2 Susan Hanf (2010-01-06). "Historic Moments—The Great Flood of 1913". Rotary International. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  42. ↑ Williams, p. 313.
  43. ↑ Williams, p. 306.
  44. ↑ Williams, p. xi.
  45. ↑ The total number of deaths as a result of tornadoes between March 21 through March 23 are estimated at 249. The tornadoes at Omaha, Nebraska, on March 23 left 103 dead. Eight other tornadoes associated with the storm killed eighty-nine more in Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, and Missouri. See Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 13, and Trudy E. Bell (18 February 2013). "'Death Rode Ruthless…'". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  46. ↑ Deaths from windstorms that swept the eastern U.S. on March 21 numbered at least sixty-six across eleven states: Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. See Trudy E. Bell (18 February 2013). "'Death Rode Ruthless…'". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  47. ↑ Approximately 450 died from drowning along the Mississippi River. See "The Great Ohio Valley Flood of 1913—100 Years Later" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  48. ↑ Williams, p. ix.
  49. ↑ Bodies were recovered down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers weeks after the flood, but without the means to link missing persons from the flood to the unidentified bodies, the total body count remains incomplete. See Trudy E. Bell (18 February 2013). "'Death Rode Ruthless…'". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  50. ↑ Williams, p. 303.
  51. ↑ Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 6–7.
  52. ↑ Bell, "Forgotten Waters", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, p. 7.
  53. ↑ Trudy E. Bell (16 March 2013). "Like A War Zone". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  54. ↑ Williams, p. vii and viii.
  55. 1 2 3 4 "1913 vs. Today". The Great Flood of 1913, 100 Years Later. Silver Jackets. 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  56. ↑ Trudy E. Bell (3 April 2013). "Forget At Your Own Peril". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  57. ↑ Trudy E. Bell (20 January 2013). "Morgan's Cowboys". 'Our National Calamity': The Great Easter 1913 Flood. Retrieved 19 September 2013.

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The March 1997 tornado outbreak was a major tornado outbreak that struck portions of the central and southern United States on March 1–2, 1997. Affecting areas mostly from Arkansas to Kentucky, the outbreak produced 58 tornadoes, including three violent (F4) tornadoes, and killed at least 27 people, including 25 in Arkansas alone and one death each in Mississippi and Tennessee. This was Arkansas' deadliest tornado outbreak since May 15, 1968, when 34 were killed in Jonesboro. Severe flooding also occurred across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, resulting in 16 Ohio counties and 44 Kentucky counties being declared disaster areas. The flash floods and damaging wind elsewhere caused 34 deaths across six states including 19 in Kentucky, five in Ohio, five in Tennessee, two in Texas and three in West Virginia. Damage estimates were about $1 billion while 75,000 homes were damaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak</span> Deadly tornado outbreak in the southern United States

The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak which affected the Southern United States and the lower Ohio Valley on February 5 and 6, 2008. The event began on Super Tuesday, while 24 states in the United States were holding primary elections and caucuses to select the presidential candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee were among the affected regions in which primaries were being held. Some voting locations were forced to close early due to the approaching severe weather.

Disaster books are a literary genre involving detailed descriptions of major historical disasters, often based on the historical records or personal testimonies of survivors. Since reportage of both natural disasters and man-made disasters is commonplace, authors tend to be journalists who develop their news reports into books. While usually well written, they can lose sight of the causes, especially in man-made catastrophes where poor engineering, human error or negligence have combined to cause failure. On the other hand, authors who have been directly involved in an accident can reveal facts which have not been widely known, and provide insight into the problem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tornado outbreak sequence of June 3–11, 2008</span> 2008 tornado outbreak in the United States

The tornado outbreak sequence of June 3–11, 2008 was a series of tornado outbreaks affecting most of central and eastern North America from June 3–11, 2008. 192 tornadoes were confirmed, along with widespread straight–line wind wind damage. Seven people were killed from a direct result of tornadoes; four in Iowa, two in Kansas, and one in Indiana. Eleven additional people were killed across five states by other weather events including lightning, flash flooding, and straight-line winds. Severe flooding was also reported in much of Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa as a result of the same thunderstorms, while high heat and humidity affected much of eastern North America; particularly along the eastern seaboard of the United States from New York City to the Carolinas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2008 Midwest floods</span> Weather outbreak that lead to flooding in the American Midwest

The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwestern United States. After months of heavy precipitation, a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The American Red Cross assisted the victims of flooding and tornadoes across seven states and the National Guard was mobilized to assist in disaster relief and evacuation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of Hurricane Ike in inland North America</span>

The effects of Hurricane Ike in inland North America, in September 2008, were unusually intense and included widespread damage across all or parts of eleven states – Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia, and into parts of Ontario as Ike, which had rapidly become an extratropical cyclone, was enhanced by an adjacent frontal boundary and produced widespread winds with gusts to hurricane-force in several areas. In addition, significant flooding which was already underway due to heavy rain from the front to the north was worsened by rainfall brought on by Ike in parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana to the west of the center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February 2009 North American storm complex</span> 2009 storm complex in the United States

On February 10–11, 2009, a broad-scale damaging wind event and small tornado outbreak affected the Central and Eastern United States. During the two-day period, 14 tornadoes touched down in seven states. Oklahoma was struck by six tornadoes, the most of any state. The six tornadoes in Oklahoma also tied the record for the most tornadoes ever recorded in the state during the month of February, which would later be broken in 2023. The first day of the outbreak produced the most tornadoes; the second brought mainly high wind damage and rain or snow in most of the Northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 2010 North American storm complex</span> Extratropical cyclone

The October 2010 North American storm complex is the name given to a historic extratropical cyclone that impacted North America. The massive storm complex caused a wide range of weather events including a major serial derecho stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes, a widespread tornado outbreak across the Southeast United States and Midwest and a blizzard across portions of the Canadian Prairies and the Dakotas. The cyclone's lowest minimum pressure of 955.2 mb (28.21 inHg) made it the second most intense non-tropical system recorded in the continental United States (CONUS). The lowest confirmed pressure for a non-tropical system in the continental United States was set by a January 1913 Atlantic coast storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013</span> Natural disaster

On November 17, 2013, the deadliest and costliest November tornado outbreak in Illinois history took shape, becoming the fourth-largest for the state overall. With more than 30 tornadoes in Indiana, it was that state's largest tornado outbreak for the month of November, and the second largest outbreak recorded in Indiana. Associated with a strong trough in the upper levels of the atmosphere, the event resulted in 77 tornadoes tracking across regions of the Midwest United States and Ohio River Valley, impacting seven states. Severe weather during the tornado outbreak caused over 100 injuries and eleven fatalities, of which eight were tornado related. Two tornadoes—both in Illinois and rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale—were the strongest documented during the outbreak and combined for five deaths. In addition to tornadoes, the system associated with the outbreak produced sizeable hail peaking at 4.00 in (10.2 cm) in diameter in Bloomington, Illinois, as well as damaging winds estimated as strong as 100 mph (160 km/h) in three locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tornado outbreak sequence of May 2019</span> Severe weather event

The tornado outbreak sequence of May 2019 was a prolonged series of destructive tornadoes and tornado outbreaks affecting the United States over the course of nearly two weeks, producing a total of 400 tornadoes, including 53 significant events (EF2+). Eighteen of these were EF3 tornadoes, spanning over multiple states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio, with additional tornadoes confirmed across a region extending from California to New Jersey. Two EF4 tornadoes occurred, one in Dayton, Ohio, and the other in Linwood, Kansas. Four tornadoes during this outbreak were fatal, causing a total of eight fatalities. The deadliest of these occurred on May 22 near Golden City, Missouri, where an EF3 tornado took three lives, including an elderly couple in their eighties. The damaging series of tornadoes that occurred in Indiana and Ohio on the evening of May 27 during this event is sometimes locally referred to as the Memorial Day tornado outbreak of 2019, which became the fourth costliest weather event in Ohio history. The near continuous stream of systems also produced to widespread flash and river flooding, along with damaging winds and large hail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Easter tornado outbreak</span> Tornado outbreak in southeast US

A widespread and deadly tornado outbreak affected the Southeastern United States on Easter Sunday and Monday, April 12–13, 2020. Several tornadoes were responsible for prompting tornado emergencies, including the first one to be issued by the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina. A large squall line formed and tracked through the mid-Atlantic on April 13, prompting more tornado warnings and watches. A total of 15 watches were produced during the course of the event, two of which were designated Particularly Dangerous Situations.

On June 18–19, 2021, a severe weather outbreak affected the Midwestern United States, affecting the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Floods, caused by training convection, caused $51.7 million in damage and causing rainfall amounts of up to 7 inches (180 mm) across western Indiana, causing one death. Hail damage also occurred from the storm complex system, which caused damage across several states that amounted to $1.9 million. A tornado outbreak also ensued, with 2 EF2 and 5 EF1 tornadoes confirmed, which caused $1.56 million in damage.

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