On the morning of May 31, 1889, residents of Johnstown, Pennsylvania heard a low rumble in the distance that might have been the sound of thunder, and they noted a breeze blowing from the northeast that was likely accompanied by an odd, muddy smell. A train headed toward Johnstown emitted a constant whine as if the whistle was stuck. As the roar grew louder, so did the wind, tossing trees around and tearing wood from nearby buildings.
Then they saw it coming, and for most it was too late. One observer who survived the catastrophe remarked that the debris-filled wave looked like “a huge hill rolling over and over.” Huge explosions from boilers expelled a black “death mist.” These were the last sights and sounds that more than 2,200 people experienced as a 75-foot-high tsunami of water and debris crushed the small land-locked town.
