Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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s IGHT ■ m Around 12=30 A.M. my brother and I awoke to a furious pounding on the back door. It was our next-door neighbor, who warned us that most of the cellars were flooding. He offered to turn off the gas in the basement. When the cellar windows broke from the force of the raging water, we began con- centrating our efforts on the first floor. Somehow that early morning we both ac- quired superhuman strength. In the light of one candle and a flashlight, the two of us carried much of our furniture to the second floor. I remember looking out our back window and feeling so helpless. Parts of trees, things from our garage, and even an old mattress flowed through my back yard. What cap- tured my attention most was the five cars the water had stacked up against my neigh- bor’s house. I’ll never forget the relentless noise of that rushing water. The water and mud and debris filled my basement and stained the kitchen floor. When the sun came out that morning, so did the people. Most of us looked at the sit- uation with mixed feelings. Along with the shock were bits of humor and wisecracks. It seemed the only way to act out the morn- ing or the disaster would have been too much to take. Enough heartbreak would come later. —Karen Horoho Above: The movie marquee was prophetic. Below, The destruction on Market Street was massive ONE WAY

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Layers of mud and debris cover Von Lunen Road. Robel Construction Company, destroyed by water and by fire. r I was watching the All-Star game that’ evening and every now and then I would ven- ture onto the porch to watch the electrifying display of lightning, a display that would im- prove its performance as the evening pro- gressed. Surprisingly enough, the rain did stop for a brief moment sometime around 9:30 p.m., but we’ve had thunderstorms be- fore and there didn’t seem to be anything special about this one. Sometime after ten o’clock the rain resumed its steady beat. The T.V. blacked-out soon afterwards, and the next thing I remember is someone say- ing, Hey! We have water in the cellar!” Im- mediately we turned on the pump and start- ed a bucket brigade to bail the water out. This wasn’t too difficult, since ther are six members in my family. Practically all the families on our block were older couples and could do nothing but watch. We were luckier than most; at least we had a fighting chance. The water outside was rising steadily, but we managed to keep the water in the cellar down to only a few inches. That is, until the electricity went out. The pump stopped. The lights flickered briefly before they too gave in. Now we could do nothing but watch. My brother and I grabbed some tool-kits on our way up: they were some of the few things we managed to salvage from our cellar. The cars!” I completely forgot about the cars. I looked outside and saw that the water was up to the doors. Our neighbor’s drive- way was an ideal spot. I managed to save the first one. But the second was destroyed by the raging water. When the water was within six inches of the first floor, we started carrying some of our valuables upstairs. After that we could Vdo nothing but sit and watch the water rise. —John Valkovci Rushing water damaged garages and pavement.

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Mr. Kaufmann. a driving instructor here at JHS, helped many nurses and doctors out of Lee Hospital. Viewers atop Sheraton Inn observe muddy downtown streets. All through the night I got up to look across our yard at the neighbors’ house. At times I couldn't see it, although it was only ten feet away. Other times the lightning lit up the sky and I could see as easily as if it were high noon. Not knowing how bad things were, I got up to go to work at J.A.T.S. (Johnstown Auto- matic Transmission Service), my father’s business. My dad and I just couldn’t believe it when we got to Ohio Street. The whole street had been torn apart. We turned around and went home. A couple of days later we went downtown to clear the parking lot at Lee Hospital with our tow truck. When we pulled one of the cars from the debris we were nearly over- come by a terrible stench. We called over the National Guard. They pulled the body of an elderly man from the car. It was hard to believe he had died right next to the hos- pital. We towed some more cars, but thank God we found no more bodies. V —John Cafeo 9