50 years ago, Ohio flooded on July 4
Churning clouds appeared on the horizon. Lightning sliced the sky and thunder shook the ground. Wind and rain pounded Ohio like a hydraulic hammer.
Fifty years ago, an apocalyptic storm brought death and destruction to the Fourth of July weekend. The 1969 disaster killed more than 40 people, including 29 in the Akron-canton area, and caused widespread devastation in north-central and northeastern Ohio.
Flooding caused by more than 9 inches of rain in 24 hours in some areas isolated communities by washing out bridges, roads and railroad lines, including the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus line that connected those cities and Cincinnati.
Red Cross operations director Milton Jackson estimated at the time that 21,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Property damage was estimated at more than $100 million (nearly $700 million today), and farmers reported another $40 million in crop damage.
The July 4 forecast called for merely “scattered showers or thundershowers with a 40% chance of rain.” It was a hot summer day with temperatures in the mid-80s and thick, oppressive humidity.
As holiday celebrants gathered for evening cookouts and patriotic fireworks displays, a freak weather system formed over Lake Erie and barreled southeast at about 7 p.m. Friday.
What came next was front-page news in The Dispatch and other newspapers for days. The headline on July 5, 1969, was “Coast Guard hunts for storm victims: 8 killed, 300 hurt in Ohio.”
By the next day, the death toll was still rising, and most of the Dispatch front page was devoted to the massive storm: “Big storm gave no warning, rains ravage rich farmlands, death toll reaches 19 in storm.”
“I had my eye on those storms out there, but that squall line developed a lot faster than normal,” Bob Alto, a meteorologist at the U.S. Weather Service at Akron-canton Airport, told the Akron Beacon Journal in 1969. “The warnings went out to the radio and television stations about two hours before the storm hit most area points.”
Terry Ritter, head meteorologist at the bureau, called it “the longest line of thunderstorms I have ever seen.”
Thousands of people had gathered at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park to watch a fireworks show. Hundreds of boats dotted the water as the dark clouds approached about 8:30 p.m.
“You saw it sweeping across the lake from the west, a real bad storm,” said Cleveland resident Robert Coatman, who had anchored a 16-foot boat off Edgewater Park. “We headed for shore fast and ran right through the barrier the city had just put up to protect swimmers. Twenty boats must have hit it at the same time.”
Weather experts call it a “derecho,” a widespread, fast-moving, storm system with destructive winds. This one had gusts topping 100 mph and torrential rain.
People fled for their lives. The winds toppled trees and power lines across northeastern Ohio.
Then the heavy rain became the danger. Emergency workers began to receive frantic reports about swollen rivers, creeks and streams. Fast-rising water closed roads and washed out bridges and railroad tracks.
Some Ohioans awoke in the middle of the night to the loud rush of water through their homes. They took refuge on upper floors or crawled onto their roofs in the dark as water lapped at their ceilings.
More than 10 inches of rain fell within 18 hours in Wayne County, one of the areas hardest hit by the violent storm. In Wooster, the usually tranquil Killbuck Creek, Apple Creek and Little Apple Creek became treacherous rapids.
In the blink of an eye, people were swept to their deaths.
Wooster Patrolmen Robert Goodrich, 56, and Paul Knisley, 30, were evacuating families on Bauer Road north of U.S. 30 when their boat capsized at 5 a.m. in 12 feet of water in Apple Creek. The rushing current tore away their life jackets, and their bodies were found downstream later that weekend.
Four members of a Wooster family drowned in a trailer home near Bauer Road: Lovina Taylor, 32; Doris Wirth, 26; Sharon Wirth, 4; and Anthony Wirth, 6 weeks.
A Toledo man, 20, was killed by a falling limb at Cedar Point in Sandusky. A 6-year-old Millersburg girl drowned while camping with her parents. A Cleveland man, 50, was electrocuted by a downed power line. A Ravenna woman, 18, died when a tree fell on a car.
Wooster Mayor Paul Tilford wired Ohio Gov. James A. Rhodes: “We have a real emergency here. Pray for us.”
“There are a number of civilians missing, but no one knows how many or who they are,” Tilford told the Beacon Journal.
The rain finally, mercifully eased that weekend. The Coast Guard and Ohio National Guard searched for victims and offered aid. Crews poked around receding floodwaters and checked muddy homes.
Rhodes spent the next two days touring the devastation. He requested federal aid for 14 counties, noting: “As far as lives, property damage and inconvenience, this is the largest catastrophe in Ohio history.”
Visiting Wooster on Monday, he prayed for “mercy on the souls of those who have made the supreme sacrifice.”
“What can I say to lessen the pain, burden and grief of the loved ones left behind?”
Some cities, such as nearby Orrville, where the municipal power plant was swamped, went more than a week without power. Some also were without fresh water or sewer service.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers, donations of food, water, clothing, cleaning supplies and manual labor poured in to the ravaged communities. Towns dug out and life slowly got back to normal.
As a direct result of the storm, the U.S. Weather Bureau at Akron-canton Airport was expanded to become a major center for severe weather warnings.