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"Prior to the flood disaster, adults and children bustled about this booming and prosperous industrial city of Johnstown. That Friday, freak cloudbursts swelled streams and creeks and the water at the dam began to rise. Early warning signals and concerns over the safety of the dam were dismissed. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which owned the dam, had screened the safety spillway to prevent fish from washing over the dam. That Friday as the rain continued the spillway quickly clogged with debris and allowed the water to rise even faster.

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"At 3:37p.m., the massive dam exploded, unleashing the entire lake behind it and 20 million tons of water came crashing down the Conemaugh Valley through a half dozen towns wiping them out and taking with it nearly everything on its way to Johnstown. The people of Johnstown never imagined the horror that was descending on them as a 40-foot wall of water rushed towards them at 40 miles per hour. When the flood hit the busy town, it flattened almost everything in its path. The mass of water traveled fiercely, crashing into a stone railroad bridge, which it could not destroy. Everything the flood had gathered: people, trees, buildings, trains, animals and houses were smashed into the stone bridge, damming up the water. The water could not pass under the bridge and created a giant whirlpool adding to the destruction. Then a railroad car caught fire, turning the acres of debris trapped by the bridge into a huge funeral pyre, sucking in houses filled with people and burning them alive.

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"This is the story of people who survived and people who died in one of the worst floods to ever hit North America. Through documented and illustrated firsthand accounts from survivors of the flood, the actual event is brought to life along with the terror of death by drowning, immolation, impaling and crushing.

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"Hear about Michael Mann, a miner far from his home, wife and family in England who was in Conemaugh Valley that day pursuing opportunities. Learn about Charles Dewald, a salesman from Altoona, the last person to enter Johnstown's luxurious Holbert Hotel. Imagine the scenes of little children playing so innocently one moment and their struggle to survive the rushing waters the next. Each of these people has a story to tell and you feel as if you were there with them as they relive their experiences. Witness the aftermath including the observations of a New York World correspondent, one of the first reporters to reach Johnstown after the disaster. Although the flood devastated this once-prosperous town, people from all over the world rallied around the survivors and pledged to help rebuild the city.

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