American Notes OHIO

The deluge of rain began as dusk fell over the Appalachians in eastern Ohio. By 11 p.m. 5 1/2 in. had pounded the foothills and cascaded into the hollows. In Shadyside, a village of 4,300 people along the Ohio River, residents were unaware that in the darkness a 40-ft. wall of water had risen in Wegee Creek, which is usually ankle deep, and was rolling toward them. It hit with enough force to knock frame houses off their foundations, carry mobile homes downstream and buckle the concrete walls of a tavern. One patron was carried away by the water; another survived by clinging to a bar stool. Not far away, the onrushing water smashed into the house of Robert and Rose Ramsey, crushing the woman.

The flash flood also turned nearby Pipe Creek into a torrent, damaging 50 buildings. Half of one house was found lodged in a bridge, 20 ft. above the receding water. As a dazed man looked for his home, a searcher observed, "He doesn't know his family is dead." No one was certain how many of the 52 people listed as missing might have survived. But by week's end 18 bodies had been found.