The Dam That Killed a Town: The 1889 Johnstown Flood

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam above Johnstown, Pennsylvania collapsed, releasing Lake Conemaugh's 14.55 million cubic meters of water on the town below. In under an hour, 2,208 people were killed in the worst flash flood in U.S. history. This documentary traces the private club that altered the dam, the storm that broke it, the towns it destroyed on its way to Johnstown, and the legal battle that followed, which helped reshape American law on liability. Source: "Johnstown Flood" — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnsto...) Text content licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Image credits: img-01-johnstown-tree-in-house.jpg: Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-02-dam-site-abutments-p6220313.jpg: Chris Light — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-03-1980-04-18-40-view-through-to-lower-side.jpg: Kwak2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-04-1980-04-18-09-southfork-dam-at-johnstown.jpg: Kwak2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-05-what-remains-of-the-south-fork-dam-11717.jpg: David Brossard — CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-06-remains-of-the-south-fork-dam-1166274652.jpg: David Brossard — CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-07-1980-04-18-36-lake-conemaugh-spillway.jpg: Kwak2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-08-johnstown-flood-general-view-of-debris-c.jpg: Langill & Darling — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-09-the-great-conemaugh-valley-disaster.jpg: Unknown artistUnknown artist — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-10-1980-04-18-07-south-fork-dam-at-johnstow.jpg: Kwak2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-11-johnstown-1889-after-the-great-flood-pan.jpg: Ron Shawley — CC BY 3.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-12-after-the-flood-at-johnstown-main-street.jpg: Francis Schell and Thomas Hogan — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-13-remmants-of-house-in-johnstown-flood.jpg: Langill & Darling — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-14-johnstown-main-street-1889-flood.jpg: E. Benjamin Andrews — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-15-wea00785-flickr-noaa-photo-library.jpg: Archival Photograph by Mr. Steve Nicklas, NOS, NGS. — Public domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-16-southfork-club-p6220294.jpg: Chris Light — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) img-17-south-fork-reservoir-area-p6220296.jpg: Chris Light — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...)