Great Dayton Flood
Main Street in Dayton, Ohio during the flood
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| Date | 21 March 1913–26 March 1913 |
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| Location | Dayton, Ohio and other cities in the Great Miami River watershed |
| Deaths | est. 360 |
| Property damage | $100,000,000 |
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 hit Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In response, the General Assembly passed the Vonderheide Act to enable the formation of conservancy districts. The Miami Conservancy District, which included Dayton and the surrounding area, became one of the first major flood control districts in Ohio and the United States.
The Dayton flood of March 1913 was caused by a series of winter storms that hit the Midwest in late March. Within three days, 8–11 inches (200–280 mm) of rain fell throughout the Great Miami River watershed on already saturated soil, resulting in more than 90 percent runoff that caused the river and its tributaries to overflow. The existing series of levees failed, and downtown Dayton experienced flooding up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. This flood is still the flood of record for the Great Miami River watershed, and the amount of water that passed through the river channel during this storm equals the flow over Niagara Falls each month.
The Great Miami River watershed covers nearly 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2) and 115 miles (185 km) of channel that feeds into the Ohio River. Other Ohio cities experienced flooding from these storms, but none as extensive as the cities of Dayton, Piqua, Troy, and Hamilton along the Great Miami River.
Dayton was founded along the Great Miami River at the convergence of its three tributaries, the Stillwater River, the Mad River, and Wolf Creek. The waterways converge within 1 mile (1.6 km) along the river channel near the city's central business district. When Israel Ludlow laid out Dayton in 1795, the local Native Americans warned him about the recurring flooding. Prior to the 1913 flood, the Dayton area experienced major floods nearly every other decade, with major water flows in 1805, 1828, 1847, 1866, and 1898. Most of downtown Dayton lies in the Great Miami River’s natural flood plain.
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