Abstract:
In July 1916, after two tropical storms ripped into North Carolina's mountains within days of each other, the Catawba River in Gaston County flooded. Bridges were washed out, mills were flooded, and several buildings were taken downstream. The Southern Railway trestle collapsed on July 16th,and the nineteen men who had been standing on it died. In total, eighty people died and flood damage topped out at $22 million.