What was once a booming, vibrant city in Western Pennsylvania to rival Pittsburgh is now only a shell of its former self. What is to blame for Johnstown's misfortunes?

The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club dam failed and flooded the valley below, including the city of Johnstown.
The wave that hit the city was 35-40 feet high.
2209 people were killed.
1600 homes were destroyed.

The dam that failed was part of an exclusive resort that had many rich and famous patrons, including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.
Many people blamed them for not properly maintaining the dam.

Johnstown was hit with a second major flood in 1936. This time the cause was an unusual amount of heavy rain on top of recent snow melt.
About 24 people died and 77 buildings were destroyed.

This flood was caused by a line of severe thunderstorms that overflowed the channel system and caused several small dams to collapse.
85 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
The population of the city dropped over 19% after this flood.

New channel and levee systems were put into place after each flood to control the water flow. Was enough done after the 1977 flood to keep it from happening again? Is the curse over? Perhaps the floods will never return, but the city of Johnstown will always feel their effects.