JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — We continue to go through our archives as we celebrate 75 years of WJAC-TV this year and this week we have remarkable interviews to share with you.
This story features four women who survived the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889.
The interview took place in the 1970's and the women, who were in their 90's at the time, shared the "harrowing" tales of what they saw when they were just little girls.
Reporter: “What's this you're holding in your lap?”
Mrs. Heslop: “That's the little shirt I wore through the Johnstown Flood. I had measles the day I was in the Johnstown Flood and that's the little shirt I wore in the flood."
A woman by the name of Elizabeth says she witnessed the Poplar Street Bridge collapse.
"Just as we looked down toward the Poplar Street Bridge, the bridge separated right in the middle, and houses and horses, and everything possible that could come up the stream, came right at us."
Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, she witnessed the death of several people when that bridge collapsed, including the uncles of fellow survivor named Maim.
"And when they got to the bridge, the bridge collapsed, and they were both drowned."
Another survivor, identified in the interview as Mrs. Goodman, recounted the harrowing scenes following the breaking of the South Fork Dam.
Reporter: “Do you remember seeing houses going down the river?”
Goodman: “Oh yes. Houses and children, and women crying and screaming for help. I watched a lot of people drown, going down. A little baby sitting in a crib all by itself floating down the middle of the river."
A woman, identified in the interview as Mrs. Heslop, explained what it was like for her when water came rushing through town.
"My father called us to the window to see the flood coming. The water was up over the general office buildings. And he told us to run to the third floor, but he never got there. He drowned. And my grandmother drowned in the house with us."
Heslop escaped with the rest of her family to the Stone Bridge.
"And right after we got out of the Stone Bridge, everything went on fire.
Reporter: “Did you watch that fire from the hills?”
Heslop: “Yes, we could see it from the hills."
Elizabeth, who we heard from earlier, was rescued from the roof of the home she was in.
"We were there and went from the first floor, to the second floor, and then to the third floor, and the water followed right after us. And they took us out through the roof by rafts that they sent in from the hill."
Mrs. Heslop talked about the days that followed the tragic flooding.
She says the National Guard was called in and was preventing people from collecting whatever belongings they found in the aftermath.
Heslop and her family were trying to recover the family's silverware used in her parents' wedding.
"We weren't allowed to touch anything. The guards who were there would shoot you if you took anything. So, we got nothing."
In all, more than 2,200 people were killed and more than $17 million in damage sustained.
In today's economy, that's equivalent to more than $585 million.
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