Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

Page 7 text:

In the wake of the flood, to make matters worse, Johns- town, among many other steel cities, was made fright- fully aware of the damage that foreign imports were causing to U.S. Steel Industry. Because we, the students at J.H.S., knew that the flood was already bogging our city with problems, we decided to fight the import problem. To do this, Mr. McCloud's English classes and the Yearbook Staff wrote letters to President Carter expressing their concern over the foreign steel situation. Students asked for help because of the flood and also the news that Bethlehem Steel announced cutbacks. A flood T-shirt that read on the back Dear Jimmy, Help!” Johnstown , was sent to the Chief Executive. 3

Page 6 text:

Dedication — To the People of Johnstown During the night of July 19 and the early morning hours of July 20, a series of thunderstorms stalled over west-central Pennsylvania. In some parts of the Greater Johnstown vicinity, up to eleven inches of rain fell, causing severe flooding over a several-county region. The areas most devastated by the flood were within the city limits of Johnstown, with damage running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. But as dawn broke on the morning of July 20, citizens already were beginning the massive task of cleaning up and rebuilding their city. As their fathers and grandfathers before them had done after the floods of 1889 and 1936, the people of Johnstown in 1977 im- mediately showed the spirit and resolve to rebuild bigger and better than before the flood. And so it is with great pride in our city and its residents that we dedicate this 1978 Johnstown High School Spectator to all the citizens of Johnstown, whose pride and determination will breathe fresh life into the city they love. The pictures of the following pages were taken following the Flood of ’77, most of them on the morning of July 20. We are grateful to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Cover Studio, Curt Davis and Frank Bevilaqua for pro- viding photographs for our use.

Page 8 text:

TOGETHER It seemed like just a heavy thunderstorm to me that night. But in the morning when I looked out my window and saw all the neighbors gathered in the street. I knew it was much more. Wondering what had hap- pened, I got dressed and went outside. When some neighbors told me of the flood, a friend and I started walking toward Morrelville. At first I hadn’t fully realized the impact of the flood. But soon the destruction and dev- astation became all too apparent. Cars were overturned and crushed. Telephone poles were toppled, the wires now just a tangled mess. The roads had large chunks chewed out of them. Water was still flowing in many places, providing a stark reminder of the fallacy of our nickname flood free city”. I thought about how the city had looked be- fore the flood and the possibility of its look- ing like that again. I knew it would take a long while to rebuild. But I also knew that we would—just like we had, twice before. —David Elliott The National Guard used their rescue training to help trapped citizens. People stare in disbelief at the destruction caused by the overpowering flood waters. m0 %r Moxham’s Ohio Street was among the many roads that couldn’t take all the pressure and force of the flood waters. 4