Great Dayton Flood - Aftermath

Aftermath

As the water receded, the damages were assessed in the Dayton area.

• More than 360 people died.
• Nearly 65,000 people were displaced.
• Approximately 20,000 homes were destroyed.
• Buildings were moved off their foundations, and debris in the moving water damaged other structures.
• Property damage to homes and businesses, including factories and railroads, were over $100,000,000 (in 1913 dollars or over $2,000,000,000 in today’s dollars).
• Nearly 1,400 horses and 2,000 other domestic animals died.

The clean up and rebuilding efforts took approximately one year to repair the flood damage. The economic impacts of the flood took most of a decade to recover.

Destruction from the flood is also responsible for the dearth of old and historical buildings in the urban core of Dayton, whose center city resembles newer cities in the western United States.