Rochester’s Great Flood of 1913
The winter had been unusually warm and rainy, and the ground already soaked to the max, when a powerful arctic weather system – stretching from Ontario down to the Gulf of Mexico – swept through. Beginning on Easter Sunday, March 23, the rains pounded all of upstate New York. Hurricane force winds and heavy sleet took down power and communication lines across the eastern half of the country, preventing the U.S. Weather Bureau from gathering information and sending warnings. And as the Genesee River swelled beyond capacity with stormwater from points south, Rochester could only wait downstream for the onslaught.
Water rose a staggering 8 feet above the top of the Court Street Dam and turned downtown streets into canals. Residents became trapped in their homes, and businesses were forced to close for days. Even the mighty presses of the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper came to a standstill. The newspaper building was located on the Main Street bridge and the presses were completely submerged underwater. At its height, parts of downtown saw water up to 6 feet deep.
Source: Rochester’s Great Flood of 1913
