There were four major rivers that flooded during this time period; the Great Miami River, the Olentangy River, the Ohio and Erie Canal, and the Scioto River. A century ago, people throughout Ohio weren’t just worried about drowning in their houses – but in their attics. In some small towns, on March 25, 1913, people were waking up in the middle of the night, finding water sloshing up against their mattresses” (news.Cincinnati 1). The great flood of Ohio was one of the worst natural disasters that ever happened in America, not just in Ohio. “The damage was widespread as 42% of Dayton was underwater for three days. “At Dayton, the Great Miami River flooded 14 square miles of the city and water ran in swift currents 10 feet deep through downtown streets" (ohiohistory 1). About 125 people died in Dayton and almost 65,000 people were left homeless. “The amount of water that passed through the river channel in Dayton equaled the amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls in a four-day period” (miamiconservancy 1). In some parts of Columbus, the standing water levels were at almost 17 feet deep and nearly 500 bridges were washed away. “A total of 43 bridges were damaged or destroyed in Shelby County” (sidneydailynews 1). When the Olentangy River flooded, a levee broke in Delaware, Ohio causing about 50 to lose their life. "The Scioto River reached record levels and poured 9 to 17 feet deep through neighborhoods" (ohiohistory 1). The Scioto river also flooded in downtown Columbus cause about 90 lives to be lost. The Scioto River also flooded in Chillicothe which killed 18. The Ohio River also reached a level of about 21 feet in 24 hours. In four days, about 10 inches of rain fell across Ohio. “This rainfall, coupled ground already saturated from the melting of snow and ice of a hard winter, produced more than 90-percent runoff, and caused the Great Miami River and its tributary streams to overflow. Every city along the river was inundated with floodwaters” (miamiconservancy 1). $100,000,000 of damage was done and 428 people died. "In response, Ohio passed the Vonderheide Act to allow the Ohio state government to form the Miami Conservancy District, one of the first major flood control districts in Ohio and the United States" (gendisasters 1). What this did was build levees and straightened the river channel throughout the Miami Valley. They also built 5 dry dams to collect excess rain water to control flooding. "The Muskingum River at Zanesville crested 27 feet above flood stage and water was 20 feet deep at several downtown intersections" (ohiohistory 1). The Maumee river also reached record levels when it "crested 10 feet above flood stage at Defiance where 268 homes were under water" (ohiohistory 1). "In some parts of the state, officials chose to dynamite canal locks in an attempt to alleviate flooding" (ohiohistorycentral 1). “The whole mess wouldn’t truly end until early May, after still more deaths in the South, when the three days of rainwater finally poured out into the Gulf of Mexico” (news.Cincinnati 1). This is the single greatest natural disaster to ever hit Ohio, and it probably will be the worst for a long time to come, but many people have forgotten about it.
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