Great Flood of 1913 occurred between March 23 and March 26 , after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain . Related deaths and damage in the United States were widespread and extensive . While the exact number is not certain , flood-related deaths in Ohio , Indiana , and eleven other states are estimated at approximately 650 . The official death toll range for Ohio falls between 422 and 470 . Flood-related death estimates in Indiana range from 100 to 200 . More than a quarter million people were left homeless . The death toll from the flood of 1913 places it second to the Johnstown Flood of 1889 as one of the deadliest floods in the United States . The flood remains Ohio 's largest weather disaster . In the Midwest damage estimates exceeded a third of a billion dollars . Damage from the Great Dayton Flood at Dayton , Ohio , exceeded $ 73 million . Indiana ’s damages were estimated at $ 25 million ( in 1913 dollars ) . Further south , along the Mississippi River , damages exceeded $ 200 million . Devastation from the flood of 1913 and later floods along the Mississippi River eventually changed the country 's management of its waterways and increased federal support for comprehensive flood prevention and funding for flood control projects . The Ohio Conservancy Act , which was signed by the governor of Ohio in 1914 , became a model for other states to follow . The act allowed for the establishment of conservancy districts with the authority to implement flood control projects
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Great Flood of 1913