Over 100 years later, people in Dayton still talk about the 1913 flood. The greatest natural disaster in Ohio history, the disaster resulted from a flood of the Great Miami River reaching the city after a series of winter rainstorms. The rains created a volume of water in the river channel over the three days of the storm that has been estimated as equal to that of the monthly flow over Niagra falls.
Dealing with the flood was a community effort. John Patterson’s NCR factory became a haven for those escaping the flood, and Patterson turned his cash register manufacturing operation into a rescue center. Employees turned their talents to making flat-bottomed rescue boats, and teams went out to retrieve people stranded on roof tops and upper stories of buildings trying to escape flood waters that were up to 20 feet deep. Patterson also provided food and lodging, and he organized medical care. NCR became the temporary headquarters for the American Red Cross and the Ohio National Guard.
The city vowed to never allow another disaster of this magnitude to overcome them again. They citizens raised more than $2 million to fund flood control, and engineers looked at a variety of factors and models, including efforts in place in Europe, to handle flood of the rivers and saturation of the watershed area. Ultimately, the Vonderheide Act, a conservancy law, was passed to allow the local government to define districts for flood control.
No flood of the magnitude of the 1913 flood has hit Dayton since.