While many are still cleaning up from the recent flash flooding that hit White Township and Indiana Borough, today marks the 40th anniversary of one of the largest floods that hit the western Pennsylvania region.
In 1977, Johnstown experienced what has been called its “third great flood” as nearly 12 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour time span. Six area dams failed during the flood and over 128 million gallons of water released into the area, and Johnstown was six feet underwater by the time all was said and done.
The flood had far-reaching effects, including areas of Indiana County, but one of the saddest impacts was in the Blairsville area, as Blairsville firefighters performed the grim task of recovering bodies that had floated down the Conemaugh River. Dana Gould was with the Blairsville Fire Department at the time and remembered the recovery efforts, describing how water-logged the bodies were, and even how one additional body was found after water levels receded.
Joe Iezzi, Sr. was a member of the Homer City Fire Department, and they were busy with flooding problems of their own at the time, as multiple buildings and bridges were destroyed in the floods. It got so busy for them, that Iezzi, along with several other firefighters got little sleep as they responded to several calls. They caught whatever sleep they could by sleeping on fire trucks or on the floor of the fire hall. Iezzi said that he didn’t see his family for a few days as flood-related problems continued to affect the Homer City area.
Homer City also sent crews to help the Clymer Area, which was also hard hit. Louis Tate of Clymer describes how strong the flood waters were as they destroyed an area department store. He described it as walls of water coming down the Clymer hillsides, and it went through the department store, destroying the store’s display windows and merchandise inside it.
The flood devastated Johnstown and the surrounding areas, with an estimated $117 million in damage in Johnstown alone, and another $213 million for surrounding areas, and it was responsible for 83 deaths.
