[It could be argued that the Johnstown flood of 1889 wasn't a natural disaster at all, but the inevitable consequence of humans thinking they could control nature. Whatever the cause, the day after a dam burst, unleashing 20 million tons of water on the residents of Johnstown, Pa., and its neighboring boroughs, the area looked like] a vast sea of muck and rubble and filthy water, ... The Johnstown Flood.