Western Maryland Floods of 1924
Cumberland Gets Two Floods in One Year
Though the Western Maryland city of Cumberland was used to flooding, it got hit by two floods in 1924.
The March 1924 Flood
The first flood hit the city on March 29 1924. It left most of the city, which sits in a valley at the confluence of the North Branch Potomac River and Wills Creek, under water. It was the city’s worst flood to that time.
It also affected many other towns in the region, both in Maryland and West Virginia. The Potomac River bridge to Piedmont, West Virginia from Westernport, Maryland was even washed away.
What Caused the Flood
Not only did heavy rains of March 28 and 29, 1924 flood the Potomac River and Wills Creek, but the rains helped the snows on the surrounding mountains melt. The snow melt also ran into the waterways adding to the flow.
The flooding began around 8:30 a.m. on March 29 when Wills Creek overflowed it banks.
“Telephone, telegraph and electric wires were swept away and the city left in darkness. Cumberland’s central business district was flooded to a height of four feet. Most of the paving washed away with a torrent of water rushing down Mechanic Street at a great velocity,” Feldstein wrote in the foreward to The Rain Main.
Reports stated the Potomac River was rising one foot per hour until 3 p.m. and then 1 ½ feet per hour until 6 p.m. Much of Cumberland’s west side wound up under five feet of water.
A Potomac River guage put the height of the river a 19 feet 2 ½ inches, which was 2 ½ feet higher than the next-worst flood in Cumberland at that time.
Damages from the Flood
Damages resulting from the flood ran between $3 million and $4 million (around $36-48 million in 2008 dollars).
Two major businesses in Allegany County, Maryland suffered damages in the flooding. The West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (now Mead/Westvaco) and the American Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Company (Amcelle) both got hit by the flooding. Amcelle experienced production delays and financial problems because of it.
“As a matter of fact, it would not be until Christmas Day of that same year that Amcelle, or Celanese as it became commonly known, would after much effort produce its first cellulose acetate yarn,” Western Maryland Historian Al Feldstein wrote.
The 1924 flooding was the final nail in the coffin of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The canal, which ran from Cumberland to Georgetown alongside the Potomac River, had been in operation since 1850. However, the 1924 flood so damaged the canal that it was determined that the costly repairs that would have been required were not worth it for a business that was already in deep financial woes.
The May 1924 Flood
The second flood of the year came on May 12, 1924. Though not as severe as the March flood (water levels were 4 feet below it), it damaged many of the same areas that were still recovering from the earlier flood.
Solutions Sought
Though how to minimize flood damage had been talked about previously, the double floods of 1924 started serious discussion about a flood-control project and a plan was developed.
No action was taken, though, which the city would come to regret when the region’s worst flood hit in 1936. It would be that flood that would spur the construction of the flood-control measures.
Damage from the 1924 Potomac River floods
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