Buildings Floating, 1936

BUILDINGS FLOATING IN RIVER;
HANCOCK BRIDGE MAY GO OUT

River Reaches 38 Feet At Williamsport And Still Rising;

Scores Of Clubhouses Swept Into Swirling Waters;

Most Of Hancock Is Under Water.


The Potomac River Valley today is experiencing its worst flood since the days of the memorable Johnstown flood of 1889. The swirling waters had passed the Johnstown flood peak at Hancock, in which section a number of houses on the West Virginia side of the river were carried away into the river and the bridge across the Potomac there threatened to collapse momentarily.

Four houses and a store building on the West Virginia side of Hancock were swept from their bases and were seen floating downstream. The river at Hancock rose four feet since 8o’clock this morning. One section of the river bridge at Hancock was under water and is blocked off. The span is 65 feet above the river -bed. The houses that were swept down the river were located at Brosius, on the West Virginia side directly across the river from Hancock.

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