Washington's Avalanche

                                                      Disaster: Avalanche sends two trains
                                                                   into the bottom of a gorge

Date: February 28, 1910

Deaths: 96
Survivors: 23

Changes: Trains take a new route that uses tunnels as protection against future avalanches.


Lesson Learned: Don't cut down trees on slopes above towns and railways.

Photo from: http://barkingrabbits.blogspot.com/2008/03/huge-avalanche-buries-two-trains-to.html

On Feb 28th of 1910 a blizzard hit Washington state with snow, ice and strong winds. History Channel wrote that the storm caused "high snow drifts in the Cascade Mountains that blocked the rail lines." Telephone lines were put down preventing communication with the outside world.

The Spokane Express, headed to Seattle from Spokane, was traveling on the Great Northern Railroads when a devastating rumble began. Due to snow covering the tracks the train could not move and had no protection. At 4:20am huge amounts of snow came rolling down Windy Mountain's side pushing a couple of trains into the gorge below (150 feet down.) With the avalanche came loud noises of trees snapping and other debris as it raced down the mountain destroying everything in its path.

A witness by the name of Charles Andrews declared the avalanche to be "white death" (history.com.)  Charles Andrews was a railroad worker and Wellington resident at the time. Not only did the avalanche wipe out the trains, but the Wellington train station as well.

History Channel goes on to say that the trains at the bottom of the gorge "were covered in 40 to 70 feet of snow and debris." With telephone lines down calls could not be made for outside help. "Despite the risk of further avalanches, many people pitched in to try to dig out survivors; it was not until the night of March 2 that assistance from outside Wellington was able to reach the site" (history.com.) In all, 23 people were pulled out alive and 96 killed. Of the survivors most were seriously injured.

In 1910 and further back people would cut down trees on slopes of mountains above a town. The Washington Avalanche is blamed on this practice writes History Channel.

Cruise Ship Disaster

Here is a news report not long after the disaster occurred. It tells of people's experience on the ship as she turned on her side in the water.

Pompeii 79AD

                     

Disaster: Volcano's eruption destroys Pompeii
Date: Aug 24-25, 79
Deaths: Over 2,000
Residents: 20,000
Eruption lasted: Around 20 hrs
Interesting facts: Figures of humans in their final moments along with the city walls and streets are still there today.


Photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii

Check out this cool video of Pompeii
http://www.history.com/topics/pompeii/videos#pompeii-deconstructed

In the year of 79AD Vesuvius, an angry volcano, near the Bay of Naples Italy erupted. Huge amounts of ash and pumice were sent up 10 miles into the atmosphere before raining down on the city of Pompeii. People ran for their lives, but 70miles per hour toxic clouds caught up to them. Due to the clouds of ash being over 1,000 degrees, victims were instantly killed.

The city of Pompeii was covered in 14 to 17 feet of ash, preserving the people, buildings and even bread. As centuries went by Pompeii was forgotten. In the year of 1748 the buried city was re-discovered. Due to ash being easy to brush off archaeologists have uncovered and learned a great deal about life 2,000 years. Findings of 2,000 bodies in certain positions of people's last moments has brought Pompeii global attention.

Another city was also destroyed by Vesuvius, Herculaneum. Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum was covered in hot mud making it difficult for archaeologists to dig up the city. It wasn't until 1982 that the first body was found in Herculaneum. The bodies show burn marks leading experts to believe that these people suffered horrible deaths.

A lot of the info we have about Vesuvius's eruption is in great thanks to Pliny the Younger. Younger (who was 17 at the time) witnessed the eruption nearby and wrote two letters about the horrifying scene. He said "people covered their heads with pillows, the only defense against a shower stones." Younger also wrote "a dark and horrible cloud charged with combustible... [people] prayed to die."

To this day Pompeii has not been completely uncovered. Experts are still digging and discovering other items of life 2,000 years ago. Herculaneum, however, has even less uncovered. As the digging goes on new truth about that terrifying event will surface. As for now people around the world are still fascinated by this buried city even 250 years after being discovered.The site of Pompeii is one of the most popular tourist sites of Italy.


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Hurricane Katrina

Disaster: Hurricane hits city
Date: Aug. 29, 2005
Deaths: Over 1,800

Lesson Learned: Make sure your defenses are strong. In New Orleans case make sure the walls holding back the sea are repaired every so often.

Interesting fact: Hurricane Katrina is the most expensive disaster in America's history!

For video of Superdome 2005 http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/08/24/vo.katrina.superdome.2005.cnn

Photo from: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?55104-Hurricane-Katrina
What started out as a category 1 hurricane by the Bahamas changed into a category 4 hurricane in six days. On Aug 29, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with 170mph winds and brought devastating rain. Due to New Orleans being below sea level, roughly 80 percent of the city was under water. Katrina was not the only reason why New Orleans flooded (and the fact that they are below sea level,)but because the walls holding back the sea failed due to not being repaired years ago.

Before the storm some 1.2 million people (according to the History Channel) evacuated, however 10,000 people stayed behind because they "could not or would not leave." For those who stayed behind, some took shelter in their homes while others stayed at the Superdome. Not long after the Superdome roof became damaged; pieces fell in to the stands.

Katrina was not the only problem that New Orleans faced, with flood waters rising more people took shelter in the Superdome. Before long food and water supplies became low and temperatures reached 90F. Health had become another issue. On Sept. 1, the military came into the city with much needed supplies of food and water. About a dozen countries helped providing money and necessities. Canada and Mexico also helped by sending in troops to "assist with cleanup and rebuilding."

43 days after Katrina the last bit of water was finally pumped out. In all, Katrina cost $80 billion dollars in damage and downsized the city's population.

Flight 255

Disaster: Commercial Plane crashes onto highway.
Date: Aug. 16, 1987
Deaths: 156
Survivors: 1 (Four year old girl)
Lesson Learned: Always complete pre-flight checks.

1st photo from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0816Flight255.html?&wired

In August of 1987, Flight 255 was planned to head for California with one stop in Phoenix. Before taking off in Detroit, the pilots skipped crucial steps of the pre-flight check in order to beat some on coming bad weather. The wing flaps, which help give the plane lift, were not put down as listed in the pre-flight.

During take off, Flight 255 failed to get off the ground quickly. Near the end of the runway the plane was 40 feet in the air when it should have been 600 feet. Due to not getting enough lift, Flight 255 crashed into a nearby highway killing two people in a car. Everyone on the flight (except for one) died in the crash. A four-year-old girl was the only survivor. The plane took off with 149 passengers and six crew.

For more info http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/plane-crashes-into-highway

http://www.flight255memorial.com/thecrash.html

2nd photo from: http://www.flight255memorial.com/thecrash.html

The Great Chicago Fire

Disaster: City catches fire
Date: Oct. 8-10, 1871
Deaths: Over 300
Buildings destroyed: 17,450
Homeless: Over 100,000
Photo from: http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/history-of-illinois3.htm



The Chicago fire is considered to be the worst fire in America's history. Beginning on the west side in a barn, the blaze quickly grew out of control. On the night of Oct. 8 people ran for their lives as the city lit up the night sky. Many buildings where made of wood and therefore consumed by the fire. Even brick buildings were affected by the fire because they exploded with flames. About a third of the city burned to the ground. Nearly 3.5 square miles lost.

The fire did not stop until it rained on Oct. 10. In addition, empty lots (that had not yet been built on)and a lake that was near by, prevented the fire from spreading further. Not long after, the process of cleaning up began.The aftermath was devastating. More than 300 people dead, 17,450 buildings destroyed and over 100,000 homeless. Also $200 million dollars in damage.

The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but history.com tells of a unlikely rumor that a cow started it. (Maybe the cow knocked over a lamp?) Other ideas have surfaced like a drunken neighbor or vandals, but nobody knows what happened in the barn.

Fires in the past were not uncommon. In fact they were frequent. The reason why the fire of Oct 8, 1871 is famous is because it nearly took out the city.

For more info visit http://www.history.com/topics/great-chicago-fire

Theater Collapes under Snow

Disaster: Theater collapses
Date: Jan. 29, 1922
Deaths: 108
Injured: 133
In attendance: 300
Lesson learned: Don't use poor building materials.



For info go to: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/theater-collapses-in-washington-dc
Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theatretalks/5051336373/

After two days of blizzard conditions in Washington D.C. more than two feet of snow was dumped on the city. Businesses were closed for those couple days until Jan 29, 1922. After being cooped up inside people wanted to go out for entertainment.

At the Knickerbocker theater a number of 300 people arrived for a show. About half way through the production the roof collapsed on top of the audience. Snow, steel and metal came down, burying the people below. 108 people were killed and even more were injured. All through the night rescue operations were in action, finding and digging people out from the rubble.

It was later determined that the building failed due to poor construction materials.

Of the deaths one man was a congressman. In a single family, five were killed (claims history.com.)