777 bodies were never identified, buried in unmarked graves. It was, however, the third flood to devastate the town in Cambria County - … About 80 people actually burned to death. The second "great flood" to hit Johnstown, Pa., happened on July 20, 1977. The Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles (22.7 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains.At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. By 1889, Johnstown had grown to a town of 30,000 German and Welsh immigrants, known for the quality of the steel it produced. The Johnstown flood of 1889. The Johnstown Pennsylvania Flood of 1889 was more a man-made Tsunami than flood by Mother Nature. The Dead. The flood was catastrophic, causing at least 2,200 deaths. The death toll stood at 2,209. Johnstown Flood Of 1889. The disaster did, however, bring the nation together to aid the “Johnstown sufferers,” according to the National Park Service . A failed dam is a dangerous way to start a flood, and that's what happened in May of 1889 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. More 1889 flood resources On May 30, 1889, after unusually heavy rains hit the area, the citizens of Johnstown were warned three times of a possible impending flood if the dam didn’t hold. One of the most horrifying details of the Johnstown Flood is the fact that not all of the 2,209 people who perished that day died in the flood itself. Johnstown Flood of 1889 On May 31, 1889 the dam located at the South Fork of the Little Conemaugh river broke causing one of the greatest disasters in American history. Johnstown, settled in 1770, has experienced three major floods in its history. 99 entire families were wiped out, 396 of them, children. Johnstown Flood Rainstorms moving through Nebraska and Kansas caused the waters around Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to rise sharply in the last days of May 1889. Home A Bustling, Industrial City The Dam The Break The Aftermath The Blame Conclusion Death and Destruction. This narrative about the 1889 flood is by Edwin Hutcheson, excerpted from “Floods of Johnstown: 1889-1936 -1977,” published in 1989 by the Cambria County Tourist Council. The decisive cause of the disaster was a dam on Lake Conemaugh that burst, suddenly … Sweeping through the valley the flood waters destroyed small towns along the way claiming lives in the process. For more, visit the section about the 1889 flood in the Archives & Research section of this site. Another major flood occurred in 1936. removal of bodies. Yes, there was flooding first, when torrential rains arrived on Memorial Day 1889, and the two rivers that flanked the steel mill town swelled. The three remembered most happened on May 31, 1889, when at least 2,209 people died, the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936, in which almost two dozen people died, and a third devastating flood on July 19-20, 1977, when at least 85 people died.