In late March 1913, a series of three severe rainstorms
inundated the already saturated and frozen ground of
the Miami Valley, causing one of Ohio's greatest natural
disasters, the Flood of 1913. On March 25, the Great
Miami River overflowed its banks at Miamisburg, fed
by runoff from Bear and Sycamore creeks. Homes, businesses, and the bridges at Linden Avenue and Sycamore
Street were swept away or wrecked by floodwaters
reaching as high as eleven feet on Main and First streets.
Early reports indicated that six people in the area died.
Cleanup and recovery efforts took approximately
a year.
In 1914, the Ohio General Assembly passed the
Conservancy Act of Ohio, leading to the establishment of the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) In 1915.
To ensure that no flood as devastating happened
again, the MCD built and maintains flood control
works In the Miami Valley, including the Germantown,
Englewood, Lockington, Taylorsville, and Huffman
earthen dams. Protections for Miamisburg include
levees and walls along the Great Miami River and its
tributaries. Riverfront Park, on land inundated by
the 1913 flood, is where people enjoy the Great Miami
and trust that it will stay its course to the Ohio River.
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