America's Great Disasters

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Snow Drifts over 30 feet high

Still snow in JULY!!!

Destroyed telegraph, telephone, electric poles and stopped all trains (including food and coal trains)

Slide 22

Blizzard of 1888

Slide 23

Blizzard of 1888

Because of the Blizzard, NYC and many

other cities put electric and telephone

cables underground. They also built

the subway underground too!

You had to shovel out the

Street!!

Slide 24

Influenza Pandemic of 1918

This “flu” killed 23 million world wide…500,000 in the United States

Avian flu (today) is similar to 1918, but it does pass human to human like it did in 1918

Slide 25

Influenza Pandemic of 1918

Emergency Tent Hospital

This disaster led to the creation of

the Center for Disease Control

(CDC). They hire scientists to

cure diseases.

Slide 26

The San Francisco Earthquake

April 18th 1906 San Francisco CA

Earthquake lasted only one minute

Fires broke out afterwards because of broken gas pipes and down electric wires

City burned for 3 days because of no water because all the water mains were broken

2/3 of San Francisco was destroyed…it was home to over 400,000 people

Slide 27

The San Francisco Earthquake

Slide 28

The San Francisco Earthquake

Slide 29

The San Francisco Earthquake

Now, California has some of

the strongest building codes

in the United States.

Slide 30

The Wisconsin Forest Fire

October 8, 1871 Peshtigo, Wisconsin

Lumber Mill Town

Cause: Piles of debris and tree roots were on fire

Destroyed entire town and killed over 800 people

Slide 31

The Wisconsin Forest Fire

Slide 32

The Wisconsin Forest Fire

Slide 33

October 8th 1871 Another disaster is smoldering…

Not many people knew about the Wisconsin Forest Fire because of another event that night “stole” the headlines…