Great Dayton Flood - 1913 Storm Timeline

1913 Storm Timeline

The following events took place between March 21 and 26 in 1913.

• Friday, March 21, 1913
  • The first storm arrives with strong winds with temperatures at 60 degrees.
• Saturday, March 22, 1913
  • The area experiences a sunny day until the second storm arrives, dropping temperatures to the 20s causing the ground to briefly freeze on the surface during the morning and thaw out by late afternoon.
• Sunday, March 23, 1913 (Easter Sunday)
  • The third storm brings rain to the entire Ohio River valley area. The saturated land can’t absorb any more water, and nearly all of the rain becomes run off that flows into the Great Miami River and its tributaries.
• March 24, 1913
  • 7:00 am - After a day and night of heavy rains with precipitation between 8-11 inches, the river reaches its high stage for the year at 11.6 feet (3.5 m) and continues to rise.
• March 25, 1913
  • Midnight - The Dayton Police are warned that the Herman Street levee was weakening and they start the warning sirens and alarms.
  • 5:30 am - The City Engineer, Gaylord Cummin, reports that water is at the top of the levees and is flowing at 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m3/s), an unprecedented rate.
  • 6:00 am - Water overflowing the levees begins to appear in the city streets.
  • 8:00 am - The levees on the south side of the downtown business district fail and flooding begins downtown.
  • Water levels continue to rise throughout the day.
• March 26, 1913
  • 1:30 am - The waters crest, reaching up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep in the downtown area.
  • Later that morning, a gas explosion downtown near the intersection of 5th Street and Wilkinson starts a fire that destroys most of a city block. The open gas lines were responsible for several fires throughout the city. The fire department was unable to reach the fires and many additional buildings were lost.