PHOTOS: When flood control dams prevented greater disaster in 1959
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As much as 5.6 inches of rain ran off frozen ground in January 1959 and caused localized flooding, which forced evacuations, closed schools, destroyed property and took at least two area lives, according to Dayton Daily News accounts from the time. During that time, the five Miami Conservancy District dams held back the largest amount of water since they were completed in 1922, preventing a greater catastrophe like the Great Flood of 1913. Here a Delphos Avenue resident is rescued from the Westwood neighborhood. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE, WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES' SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & ARCHIVES