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Between March 23 and 27, 1913, Ohio underwent the worst weather-related disaster in its history when massive statewide flooding led to 467 deaths and over 40,000 homes being flooded. Neighbouring Indiana was also affected. The worst death toll was in Dayton, where 123 people died after the Scioto, Miami and Muskingum Rivers broke their banks simultaneously, spreading over fourteen square miles of the city and reaching a depth of ten feet deep in some parts. A further 100 people died in Columbus following flooding of the Scioto River, and similar disasters occurred at Zanesville, Defiance, Tiffin and other cities. In the words of the Cleveland Leader on March 27, ""A great mountain of water has been hurled from the clouds upon Ohio. A lake has been emptied upon this state." The flood was finally dealt with by dynamiting locks on the Ohio Canal at Akron, which released the flood waters into the Cuyahoga River. After the flood had receded, the Miami Conservancy District established a system of flood control reservoirs to ensure that nothing on that scale ever happened again. Michael Brooke
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Complete film (0:58)
