Washed Away: How The Great Flood Of 1913, America's Most Widespread Natural Disaster, Terrorized A Nation And Changed It Forever - Plot & Excerpts
Collapsing bridges during a major flood was as natural and expected as the water itself. On March 22, the day before Omaha’s tornado, the fragility of bridges was underscored in Vermont during a train trip from Montreal to Boston. Engineer John Eastman knew the rivers in the area had been overwhelmed and was on the lookout for questionable bridges. When he approached one particular bridge, he noticed that an abutment looked vulnerable, and he slammed on the air brakes. The passenger cars never touched the bridge, but the train engine stopped on the structure, and as soon as the train came to a halt, it was moving again, downward, careening into the Passumpsic River. Eastman jumped from the engine, landed in the river, and swam to shore. But what really shook up Eastman, his crew, and the 125 passengers was what they learned when they reached the town of Lyndonville, Vermont, to wait for another train to take them on to Boston: two other bridges behind them had collapsed, shortly after Eastman’s train had crossed them.
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