The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster
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A GRIPPING NEW HISTORY CELEBRATING THE REMARKABLE HEROES OF THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD--THE DEADLIEST FLOOD IN U.S. HISTORY--FROM NBC HOST AND LEGENDARY WEATHER AUTHORITY AL ROKERCentral Pennsylvania, May 31, 1889: After a deluge of rain--nearly a foot in less than twenty-four hours--swelled the Little Conemaugh River, panicked engineers watched helplessly as swiftly rising waters threatened to breach the South Fork dam, built to create a private lake for a fishing and hunting club that counted among its members Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie. Though the engineers telegraphed a warning to neighboring towns, residents--factory workers and their families--remained in their homes, used to false alarms.At 3:10 p.m., the dam gave way, releasing 20 million tons of water. Traveling 40 miles an hour, with swells as high as 60 feet, the deadly floodwaters razed the mill town--home to 20,000 people--in minutes. The Great Flood today remains the deadliest in U.S. history, killing more than 2,200 people and causing $17 million in damage. In Ruthless Tide, Al Roker follows an unforgettable cast of characters whose fates converged because of that tragic day.
