Washed Away: How the Great Flood of 1913, America's Most Widespread Natural Disaster, Terrorized a Nation and Changed It Forever by Geoff Williams
Authors: Geoff Williams
Tags: United States, Fiction, General, History, State & Local, Modern, Nature, 19th century, Natural Disasters, Midwest (IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; OH; SD; WI)
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itâto see her kitten, floating in the room, alive and well, a passenger in a sewing basket. She and her kitten then hurried to her younger brother Josephâs home.
Miss Donohoe was fortunate, however. She escaped the flood with an amusing story to share with her family, friends, and hopefully Pearl Biddle.
Delaware, Ohio, about 2 A . M .
Approximately twenty miles southeast of Richwood, about the time Biddle was banging on doors, nobody in Delaware needed to be told that a flood was coming. The Olentangy River had taken over eight blocks of the town that resides twenty-seven miles north of Columbus, Ohio. Delawareâs 45-year-old mayor, Bertrand V. Leas, who a few short years earlier had been a hardware store owner, first rowed his wife, Marie, and two young children, Florence and Bertrand Jr., to safety and then went back for his neighbor.
Samuel Jones, the patriarch of the family, wasnât there, possibly because he was back at the lumber yard where he was a foreman. Mrs. Sophrona Jones and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Esther, were at the house, however, along with at least two neighbors, Hazel Dunlap, twenty-two years old, and an unknown woman, possibly Hazelâs mother. Guided by a lantern and the other lantern light from other rescue boats in the neighborhood, Leas began taking his passengers through the fast-moving current. The rain was dumping on them, and the water and sky were dark, but while they couldnât see what was out there, the sound of rain and rushing water and debris crashing by made it abundantly clear that maybe they were better off not knowing.
And then it happened just twenty feet later: a wave, crashing over the boat and knocking everyone into the water. Somehow, the mayor clung to Mrs. Jones and managed to keep her afloat until rescuers could get to her. But they couldnât get to him. Mayor Leas was swept away.
But not for long. He grabbed on to a rope hanging from the window of a lumber building and climbed up to the roof. Rescuers, however, thought he was a goner, and initial reports went to newspapers across the country that Mayor B. V. Leas had drowned, along with twenty other residents. The numbers were a little off, but they were grim nonethelessâit was probably closer to fourteen who died, and among them were three of the mayorâs passengers: Esther Jones, Hazel Dunlap, and the unknown woman.
Deep into the night, still in Delaware, Ohio
Throughout the previous day in the college town of Delaware, Ohio, the flooding at first was subtle: six inches deep in some of the lower streets. But as the day wore on, it was a foot deep. By evening, the Olentangy River had covered the entire lower part of the town, with the second stories and roofs sticking out of the water.
Florence Wyman, a student at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, later said that about two hundred young women in Monnett Hall, their dormitory, walked the floors and cried and prayed. Their university was on the highest hill in the town, but they were only a few blocks away from homes that were deluged. Even if the women closed their windows, they could still hear the waterâs roar and people, on their roofs, begging and screaming for help. Every once in a while, the young coeds would hear a woman shrieking, which everyone took as the sound of someone seeing a loved relative losing their grip or footing and falling into the water.
There were no boats at the university, and with it being dark, and the town drenched by what was now a cold drizzle, there was nothing anyone could realistically do until morning.
Tiffin, Ohio, middle of the night
It was still raining. People in the northern half of Ohio were recognizing the danger that they were in, and the streets of Tiffin were emptying. But it could be difficult to know what to do when your family wasnât together. Theresa Klingshirn, nine Klingshirn children ranging from a nineteen-year-old to a two-year-old, and her son-in-law, Ray
Miss Donohoe was fortunate, however. She escaped the flood with an amusing story to share with her family, friends, and hopefully Pearl Biddle.
Delaware, Ohio, about 2 A . M .
Approximately twenty miles southeast of Richwood, about the time Biddle was banging on doors, nobody in Delaware needed to be told that a flood was coming. The Olentangy River had taken over eight blocks of the town that resides twenty-seven miles north of Columbus, Ohio. Delawareâs 45-year-old mayor, Bertrand V. Leas, who a few short years earlier had been a hardware store owner, first rowed his wife, Marie, and two young children, Florence and Bertrand Jr., to safety and then went back for his neighbor.
Samuel Jones, the patriarch of the family, wasnât there, possibly because he was back at the lumber yard where he was a foreman. Mrs. Sophrona Jones and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Esther, were at the house, however, along with at least two neighbors, Hazel Dunlap, twenty-two years old, and an unknown woman, possibly Hazelâs mother. Guided by a lantern and the other lantern light from other rescue boats in the neighborhood, Leas began taking his passengers through the fast-moving current. The rain was dumping on them, and the water and sky were dark, but while they couldnât see what was out there, the sound of rain and rushing water and debris crashing by made it abundantly clear that maybe they were better off not knowing.
And then it happened just twenty feet later: a wave, crashing over the boat and knocking everyone into the water. Somehow, the mayor clung to Mrs. Jones and managed to keep her afloat until rescuers could get to her. But they couldnât get to him. Mayor Leas was swept away.
But not for long. He grabbed on to a rope hanging from the window of a lumber building and climbed up to the roof. Rescuers, however, thought he was a goner, and initial reports went to newspapers across the country that Mayor B. V. Leas had drowned, along with twenty other residents. The numbers were a little off, but they were grim nonethelessâit was probably closer to fourteen who died, and among them were three of the mayorâs passengers: Esther Jones, Hazel Dunlap, and the unknown woman.
Deep into the night, still in Delaware, Ohio
Throughout the previous day in the college town of Delaware, Ohio, the flooding at first was subtle: six inches deep in some of the lower streets. But as the day wore on, it was a foot deep. By evening, the Olentangy River had covered the entire lower part of the town, with the second stories and roofs sticking out of the water.
Florence Wyman, a student at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, later said that about two hundred young women in Monnett Hall, their dormitory, walked the floors and cried and prayed. Their university was on the highest hill in the town, but they were only a few blocks away from homes that were deluged. Even if the women closed their windows, they could still hear the waterâs roar and people, on their roofs, begging and screaming for help. Every once in a while, the young coeds would hear a woman shrieking, which everyone took as the sound of someone seeing a loved relative losing their grip or footing and falling into the water.
There were no boats at the university, and with it being dark, and the town drenched by what was now a cold drizzle, there was nothing anyone could realistically do until morning.
Tiffin, Ohio, middle of the night
It was still raining. People in the northern half of Ohio were recognizing the danger that they were in, and the streets of Tiffin were emptying. But it could be difficult to know what to do when your family wasnât together. Theresa Klingshirn, nine Klingshirn children ranging from a nineteen-year-old to a two-year-old, and her son-in-law, Ray
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