The communities surrounding Johnstown, Pennsylvania do not forget the lives that were swept away by floodwaters unleashed after the collapse of a nearby dam. The numbers speak for themselves: A rush of twenty million tons of water. Fatalities numbering two thousand two hundred and nine -- among them, ninety-nine whole families.
Remembering that catastrophe on the 31st of May, one-hundred thirty-seven years ago, the Cambria Radio Club WA3WGN will be on the air again this year with the special event callsign N3N from the 30th of May through to the 5th of June.
For hams in this flood-prone river valley, it is a very personal special-event activation and a sad chapter in regional history. There have been other floods since - notably in 1936 and 1977- but neither compared to this deadly moment, one that is marked now by a national memorial in the heart of the city and a special-event station by amateur radio operators who know the landscape well.
