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Images of America: Cleveland Area Disasters looks back at the historic disasters to strike Cleveland in the first half of the 20th century. It documents the tornados, fires, cave-ins, accidents, and explosions that befell the region during that period. Most Clevelanders have heard stories of the Collinwood school fire, the Lorain tornado, the Cleveland Clinic fire, and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey fire; however, over the decades, the true events and the tall tales that followed have become blurred. Some disasters, such as the West 117th Street explosion and the Waterworks Tunnel cave-ins, seem almost completely forgotten. Although tragic, the disasters in this book affected the lives of Clevelanders and often generated changes for the good, which prevented these sorts of tragedies from occurring again. Sadly, in some instances, they did not.

The rain began to fall on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913. In Troy, 15 people lost their lives during the flood due to drowning, and in the weeks and months that followed an unknown number died from flood-related diseases. The story of what happened in Troy has often been overlooked, but in 1976 the Troy Historical Society Oral History Committee interviewed Troy flood survivors as a project for the bicentennial of the United States. These interviews, preserved on audiotapes, provide researchers firsthand accounts of what happened in the town. The late Mrs. Lois Shilling Davies, a past president of the Troy Historical Society who lived in Troy during the flood, deserves much of the credit for this invaluable resource, for it is she who conducted many of the interviews. Images of America: Troy and the Great Flood of 1913 relates how residents endured without having any instruction or experience in emergency preparedness. This is a celebration of human bravery, kindness, and ingenuity--of people who triumphed over tragedy.