Thursday is Saint Patrick's feast day - a most happy occasion, as any person of Irish Catholic ancestry will vouch - but It is also the 30th anniversary of the worst flood on record in Beaver County-a memory far from happy for many residents.
Those residents old enough to remember can call to mind, that the winter of 1935-36 was a bitter season, with the rivers frozen fast for a long period.
The ice finally began to break up during a mid-February thaw and for a time serious flooding was feared, as the big blocks of ice began to clog rivers, creeks and streams, with big ice gorges forming at some points.
An ice gorge that had built up on the Ohio River at Baden moved downstream and created a new gorge by Vanport on February 17.
The icegorge, reportedly the worst in memory in this area, built up and resisted blasting by the Army Engineers, who were trying to protect the as yet uncompleted Montgomery Dam. The spectacle drew throngs of spectators.
Water was backed up from the Ohio River into the Beaver but serious flooding was averted when the ice gorge finally let go at 3 p.m. on February 26, moving down the Ohio without damaging Montgomery Dam.
While the rivers remained high, the flood danger subsided somewhat during the next few days and on Tuesday, March 3, 1936, traffic on the Ohio River resumed, marking a 40-day tie-up due to ice and high water. Conditions on the river had not been so bad since 1917, when the river was unnavigable all winter.
Though the imminent danger was past, the stage was set for disaster, with river levels remaining very high and the earth full of moisture and frozen underneath.
Then the rains came and continued for most of two days prior to St. Patrick's Day. Early the, morning of March 17 the rain changed to sleet, bringing Beaver County its worst sleet storm of the winter. The sleet changcd to snow later in the morning.
That day the Ohio River was rising rapidly at a rate of .4 foot an hour, bad already passed the 30-foot mark at Montgomery Dam (where flood stage is 32 feet) and rivermen predicted a 40 foot river stage within 24 hours.
Headlines in "The NewsTribune" On March 18 read, "Valley Towns Under Water" and "Pittsburgh Is Badly Flooded."
The local story stated: "The greatest flood in Beaver County's history crept upon a sleepless valley last night and today at noon the waters were still rising."
With the water still rising, the story noted:
"Train service to Pittsburgh was halted and six to 10 inches of snow on highways made travel hazardous for detours around the flood.
"From 3:50 p.m. yesterday to 1 a.m. today the only communication in most of the valley (Ohio) was the telephone and many lines were out of order.
"All night and today houses and wreckage of houses swept down the Ohio River;
"Electric power was partially restored this morning, temporarily, with a connection to the Penn & Ohio Power Company;
"For the first time in history, there is a level stretch of water from the Ohio River to the 10th Street Dam in Beaver Falls, with the Ninth Street Dam in New Brighton obliterated from sight.
"More than 50 homes In lower New Brighton and Fallston vicinity are under water. The Townsend plant in Fallstonis under six feet of water and Beaver Valley Traction is under 12 feet of water.
"Scores of families were marooned in the second stories of their homes in Bridgewater. Boats rowed here and there, offering ferry facilities and trips for food;
"At 11 O'clock this morning there were four feet of water on the floor of the Beaver water works and still rising. Pumps were stopped at 7 O'clock this morning after the reservoirs were filled and water will be turned on for half an hour three times daily to serve residents.
"In Rochester, lowlands were completely flooded out and 14 residents of Water Street were lodged in the Police station overnight.
"Tons of water surged over lower levels of Freedom and Conway, paralyzing Conway Yards, halting operation of the Freedom Oil works and flooding several sections of Third Avenue in Freedom, with water in the business establishments.
On March 19, headlines in "The News-Tribune" read "Val!ey's Worst Flood Ebbing" and "Pittsburgh Under Martial Law." At about 11 o'clock the flood had reached 46 feetans it peaked at 53.2 feet at Montogomery dam where flood stage is 32 feet. The river level began to drop about 2 a.m. on March 19.
While the flood was ebbing, the heights that had been reached were evidenced by the fact that the afternoon before, the locks at the Freedom and Merrill dams then in existence, were abandoned when water got into the second floor observation rooms.
Although the worst was past, there was an awful lot of cleaning up to do, electric power was limited and some 450 county families were under care of the Red Cross, having lost practically everything.
As late as March 24 the public was urged to conserve electricity, as there was still an emergency situation, and it wasn't until March 23 that it was reported "Wheels of Beaver valley industry hummed again today with return of practically full electric power."
Company B of the National Guard at New Brighton, which had been called out for patrol duty in West Bridgewater and some other areas in the county, was moved out on March 20 and on March 21 began patrolling the stricken "Bottom" area in McKees Rocks while emergency policemen acted as guards in West Bridgewater.
Beaver County escaped any flood fatalities during the actual flood but on March 20 a 17-year old West Aliquippa youth was drowned when a slide precipitated him and four other youths into the Ohio River as they were repairing a boat, preparatory to making salvage trips into the flood waters.
The only bridge damage reported in the county was that the New Brighton span of the old Sharon Bridge (to West Bridgewater) was broken by the flood.
That bridge had been abandoned within the three year prior to 1936, after having been rebuilt when a flood in 1913 destroyed its center span.
While the. flood brought miser and heavy damage to many, it also brought the curious--as is usual after a disaster.
It was noted in a story on March 23 that a steady stream of auto traffic poured into West Bridgewater and the Conway- Freedom districts the day before, as thousands of curious persons motored to those communities to survey the damage caused by the flood, some coming from out-of state.
The flood was not a local event, however, as 13 states in the eastern part of the nation were ravaged by rampaging rivers during the same period. At the time the death toll was placed at 168 persons and damage was estimated in hundreds of millions of dollars.
Since that time, there have
been many new dams and reservoirs built to insure that such a
flood should never occur again, causing such a black St Patrick's
Day.
A NICE GORGE AT VANPORT on the Ohio River, that formed on February
17, 1936, as shown above. In subsequent days, Army Engineers conducted
blasting, trying to protect the uncompleted Montgomery Dam, but
their efforts were unsuccessful. The ice gorge, said to be the
worst in memory of this area, finally let go on February 26 and
moved downstream without damaging Montgomery Dam. Serious flood
damage In the area was averted at that time but a record flooding
followed the next month.
THIS IS THE FALLSfON BRIDGE during the flood that began on March
17, 1936. It was reported In "The News-Tribune" on March
18 that for the first time in history there was a level stretch
of water from the Ohio River to the 10th Street Darn in Beaver
Falls, with the Ninth Street Dam in New Brighton covered by water.
It was reported the Townsend plant In Fallston was under six feet
of water and the Beaver Valley Traction Company on Junction Stretch
was under 12 feet of water (and the water was still rising at
that time).
BRIDGEWATER'S MAIN STREET
Is shown looking west from the bridge to Rochester, during the
flood that started on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1936. A story
in "The News-Tribune" on March 18 reported, "scores
of families In Bridgewater were marooned In the second floors
of their homes while boats rowed here and there offering ferry
facilities and trips for food." (This photo and others on
this page provided through the courtesy of W. S. (Beaner) McDanel,
New Brighton.)