Ten Ohio Disasters

Tragedy and courage walk hand-in-hand in these gripping true tales from Ohio’s past…



These ten disasters from Ohio’s past are worth remembering for both their tragic lessons and their inspiring examples of heroism, including:



• The horribly destructive Xenia tornado, part of the most violent “super outbreak” ever recorded, which wiped out entire neighborhoods …



• The sudden and shocking Silver Bridge collapse, during rush hour, into the Ohio River near Gallipolis …



• An ill-fated group parachute jump over Lake Erie that landed in watery disaster near Huron …



• The Golden Age Nursing Home fire in Fitchville, one of the deadliest such fires in U.S. history …



• Cleveland’s great balloon launch fiasco, which earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records—and infamy …



• The Blizzard of ‘78—a roaring “White Hurricane” that swept across Ohio and buried the state …



• The panicked demise of trained animals during the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus fire in Cleveland …



• The Roger Blough inferno—a giant, 833-foot-long Great Lakes freighter engulfed in flames while dry-docked in Lorain …



• The frenzied and deadly Who concert stampede at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum …



• The bizarre exotic animal escape in Zanesville, where dangerous beasts including lions, tigers, and bears stalked the community.



Veteran journalist Neil Zurcher reported many of these news stories firsthand, and for this book interviewed survivors, heroes, and other eyewitness.