Procedure for getting information and videos: 1) Google.com 2) login - [email protected] 3) password - devils12 4) Click on DRIVE at the top of the screen. 5) Go to LEFT side and click Shared. 6) Click on 1913 - The Great Dayton Flood. 7) In that document, you will find articles, websites, photos, and videos. Go do your research for your paragraphs! Enjoy your finding out interesting history about the Dayton area. :) Video: Goodbye, The Levee Has Broken Why? For one thing, it's a whale of a story with marvelous characters. Its most prominent national hero was a crook - John H. Patterson, founder of National Cash Register (NCR) in Dayton, who along with two dozen NCR executives had just been convicted in Federal Court of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, and whose conviction was under appeal. Although technically a felon, Patterson was given charge of part of Dayton under martial law. Another major figure was Ohio's Governor James M. Cox, "boy publisher" of the Dayton Daily News, who effectively co-opted the nation's 1913 Great Easter Flood and made it specifically the Great Dayton Flood, and who later ran for U.S. President on the strength of his executive ability in rebuilding the ravaged state of Ohio - which after the waters receded lay in utter ruins as if after a war. There was also newly inaugurated President Woodrow Wilson, who sent the Secretary of War into battle against the raging waters. There was engineer Arthur E. Morgan, whose innovative flood control project - the Miami Conservancy District, then the largest engineering project in the world - has protected southwest Ohio and the city of Dayton ever since; his work ultimately led him to be appointed first head of the Tennessee Valley Authority by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. There were also the thousand prisoners of an Indiana penitentiary whose beloved warden allowed them to save the town of Jeffersonville from being engulfed by the Ohio River, and whose residents were so grateful they feted the prisoners with a bountiful feast. And there were the fledgling institutions of the Boy Scouts of America and Rotary, whose members' spontaneous outpouring of aid to the victims of the 1913 tornados and flood led them to discover their true mission of humanitarian service. Working with the Red Cross and the Chamber of Commerce, the city of Cleveland pioneered the innovative technique of federated fundraising and giving of aid. On the dark side, across the tornado-devastated and flooded regions, sufferers who had lost everything in the flood wrestled to be recognized as victims worthy of compassion and assistance, rather than turned away branded with the stigma of being undeserving paupers. Background conditions Dayton was founded along the Great Miami River at the convergence of its three tributaries, the Stillwater River, the Mad River, and Wolf Creek. The four rivers converge within 1 mile (1.6 km) along the river channel near the city’s central business district.[4] When Israel Ludlow laid out Dayton in 1795, the local Native Americans warned him about the recurring flooding. Prior to the 1913 flood, the Dayton area experienced major floods nearly every decade, with major water flows in 1805, 1828, 1847, 1866, and 1898.[6] Most of downtown Dayton lies in the Great Miami River’s natural flood plain. [edit]1913 storm timeline Main Street during the flood View of rubble on Linden Avenue after 1913 flood View of aftermath of 1913 flood The following events took place between March 21 and 26 in 1913.[4] ● Friday, March 21, 1913 ○ The first storm arrives with strong winds with temperatures at 60 degrees. ● Saturday, March 22, 1913 ○ The area experiences a sunny day until the second storm arrives, dropping temperatures to the 20s causing the ground to briefly freeze on the surface during the morning and thaw out by late afternoon. ● Sunday, March 23, 1913 (Easter Sunday) ○ The third storm brings rain to the entire Ohio River valley area. The saturated land can’t absorb any more water, and nearly all of the rain becomes run off that flows into the Great Miami River and its tributaries. ● March 24, 1913 ○ 7:00 am - After a day and night of heavy rains with precipitation between 8-11 inches, the river reaches its high stage for the year at 11.6 feet (3.5 m) and continues to rise. ● March 25, 1913 ○ Midnight - The Dayton Police are warned that the Herman Street levee was weakening and they start the warning sirens and alarms. ○ 5:30 am - The City Engineer, Gaylord Cummin, reports that water is at the top of the levees and is flowing at 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m3/s), an unprecedented rate. ○ 6:00 am - Water overflowing the levees begins to appear in the city streets. ○ 8:00 am - The levees on the south side of the downtown business district fail and flooding begins downtown. ○ Water levels continue to rise throughout the day. ● March 26, 1913 ○ 1:30 am - The waters crest, reaching up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep in the downtown area. ○ Later that morning, a gas explosion downtown near the intersection of 5th Street and Wilkinson starts a fire that destroys most of a city block. The open gas lines were responsible for several fires throughout the city. The fire department was unable to reach the fires and many additional buildings were lost.[6] [edit]Clean up effort The Ohio Governor James M. Cox sent Ohio National Guard troops to protect property and life, and support the recovery efforts. The ONG was not able to reach the city for several days because of the high water conditions throughout the state. They built refugee camps using tents for people permanently or temporarily displaced from their homes.[4] During this time, John H. Patterson, a local businessman who ran the National Cash Register (NCR) company, led the recovery efforts. NCR employees built nearly 300 flat-bottomed boats[5] and Patterson organized rescue teams to save the thousands of people stranded on roofs and the upper stories of buildings.[6] He turned the NCR factory on Stewart Street into an emergency shelter providing food and lodging, and he organized local doctors and nurses to provide medical care.[5] Initial access was provided by the Dayton, Lebanon and Cincinnati Railroad and Terminal Company, the only line not affected by the flood. [edit]Aftermath As the water receded, the damages were assessed in the Dayton area. ● More than 360 people died.[4] ● Nearly 65,000 people were displaced.[7] ● Approximately 20,000 homes were destroyed.[8] ● Buildings were moved off their foundations, and debris in the moving water damaged other structures. ● Property damage to homes and businesses, including factories and railroads, were over $100,000,000 (in 1913 dollars or over $2,000,000,000 in today’s dollars).[1] ● Nearly 1,400 horses and 2,000 other domestic animals died.[4] The clean up and rebuilding efforts took approximately one year to repair the flood damage. The economic impacts of the flood took most of a decade to recover.[4] Destruction from the flood is also responsible for the dearth of old and historical buildings in the urban core of Dayton, whose center city resembles newer cities in the western United States. UD video of volunteers and testimonies: http://udquickly.udayton.edu/udmagazine/2013/02/%E2%80%98for-the-love-of- dayton%E2%80%99/ And the Rains Came: http://www.daytonhistory.org/archives/glance_flood.htm Birth of Modern Flood Control: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge301/dayton%20flood-updated.pdf Personal accounts: http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/1566099.htm .