Remember When: St. Patrick's Day Flood wreaked havoc on the A-K Valley in 1936

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Remember When: St. Patrick's Day Flood wreaked havoc on the A-K Valley in 1936

Ray Rieser | Sunday, March 17, 2024 12:15 p.m.

Courtesy of Alle-Kiski Valley Historical Society

Rescuers transport people through the floodwaters at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Lock Street in Tarentum after the St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936 wreaked havoc across the Alle-Kiski Valley.

In the winter of 1936, the Alle-Kiski Valley saw 63 inches of snowfall through February.

Then March came in like a lion.

During the first weeks of March, warm weather coupled with melting snow and two days of torrential rain resulted in one of the region’s worst natural disasters: the Great Flood of 1936, commonly known as the St. Patrick’s Day Flood.

The Allegheny River crested at 41 feet at the Natrona Dam, 21 feet above flood stage. It was the highest reading ever recorded.

The Valley Daily News reported that the flood claimed three lives and left 4,000 people homeless in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Two hundred homes were swept away by the raging floodwaters, and many of those that remained were badly damaged.

Here is a collection of photographs depicting the destruction that occurred in the A-K Valley.

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