Aftermath of the disaster

The collapse unleashed an immense wave of molasses between 8 and 15 ft (2.5 to 4.5 m) high, moving at 35 mph (56 km/h) and exerting a pressure of 2 ton/ft² (200 kPa).^[4] The molasses wave was of sufficient force to break the girders of the adjacent Boston Elevated Railway's Atlantic Avenue structure and lift a train off the tracks. Nearby, buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of 2 to 3 feet. As described by Stephen Puleo,

"Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there struggled a form ? whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was.... Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly-paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings ? men and women ? suffered likewise."^[5]

The Boston Globe reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet." Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into Boston Harbor. Approximately 150 were injured; 21 people and several horses were killed ? some were crushed and asphyxiated by the molasses. The wounded included people, horses, and dogs; coughing became one of the biggest problems after the initial blast.

...Anthony di Stasio, walking homeward with his sisters from the Michelangelo School, was picked up by the wave and carried, tumbling on its crest, almost as though he were surfing. Then he grounded and the molasses rolled him like a pebble as the wave diminished. He heard his mother call his name and couldn't answer, his throat was so clogged with the smothering goo. He passed out, then opened his eyes to find three of his sisters staring at him^[3]

Aftermath

Detail of molasses flood area. 1. Purity Distilling molasses tank 2. Firehouse 31 (heavy damage) 3. Paving department and police station 4. Purity offices (flattened) 5. Copps Hill Terrace 6. Boston Gas Light building (damaged) 7. Purity warehouse (mostly intact) 8. Residential area (site of flattened Clougherty house)

Cleanup

It took over 87,000 man hours to remove the molasses from the cobblestone streets, theaters, businesses, automobiles, and homes.^[5] The harbor ran brown until summer. Local residents brought a class-action lawsuit, one of the first held in Massachusetts, against the United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA), which had bought Purity Distilling in 1917. In spite of the company's attempts to claim that the tank had been blown up by anarchists^[6] (because some of the alcohol produced was to be used in making munitions), a court-appointed auditor found USIA responsible after three years of hearings. USIA ultimately paid out $600,000 in out-of-court settlements (at least $6.6 million in 2005 dollars).^[7]

United States Industrial Alcohol did not rebuild the tank. The property became a yard for the Boston Elevated Railway (predecessor to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) and is currently the site of a city-owned baseball field.

Causes

The cause of the accident is not known with certainty, but the company was found liable and paid damages.^[8]

Several factors that occurred on that day and the previous days may have contributed to the disaster. The tank was poorly constructed and insufficiently tested. Due to fermentation occurring within the tank, carbon dioxide production may have raised the internal pressure. The rise in the local temperatures that occurred over the previous day also would have assisted in the building of this pressure. Records show that the air temperature rose from 2°F to 41°F (-17°C to 4°C) over that period. The failure occurred from a manhole cover near the base of the tank, and it is possible that a fatigue crack grew here to criticality. The hoop stress is greatest near the base of a filled, cylindrical tank. The tank had only been filled to capacity 8 times since it was built a few years previously, putting the walls under an intermittent cyclical load.

An inquiry after the disaster revealed that Arthur Jell, who oversaw the construction, neglected basic safety tests, such as filling the tank with water to check for leaks. When filled with molasses, the tank leaked so badly that it was painted brown to hide the leaks. Local residents collected leaked molasses for their homes.

Based on the date of the accident, some have claimed that the tank may have been overfilled so that the owners could produce as much ethanol for liquor as possible before Prohibition came into effect. But the 18th Amendment, enacting Prohibition, did not become law until more than a year later, and the Volstead Act did not ban the production of industrial alcohol, so these claims are groundless.

People killed

Name Age Occupation Patrick Brown 44 Laborer (North End Paving Yard) William Brogan 61 Teamster Bridget Clougherty 65 Homemaker Stephen Clougherty 34 Unemployed John Callahan 43 Paver (North End Paving Yard) Maria Distasio 10 Child William A. Duffee Unknown Resident in vicinity[1] William Duffy 58 Laborer (North End Paving Yard) Peter Francis 64 Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard) Flamino Gallerani 37 Driver Pasquale Iantosca 10 Child James H. Kinneally Unknown Laborer (North End Paving Yard) Eric Laird 17 Teamster George Layhe 38 Firefighter (Engine 31) James Lennon 64 Teamster/Motorman[1] Ralph Martin 21 Driver James McMullen 46 Foreman, Bay State Express Cesar Nicolo 32 Expressman Thomas Noonan 43 Longshoreman Peter Shaughnessy 18 Teamster John M. Seiberlich 69 Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard)[1] Michael Sinnott 76 Messenger [9] Today The sites of the molasses tank and the North End Paving Company have been turned into a recreational complex, officially named Langone Park, featuring a Little League ballfield, a playground, and bocce courts.[10] Immediately to the east is the larger Puopolo Park, with additional recreational facilities.[11] A small plaque at the entrance to Puopolo Park, placed by the Bostonian Society, commemorates the disaster.[12] The plaque, entitled "Boston Molasses Flood", reads: "On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank at 529 Commercial Street exploded under pressure, killing 21 people. A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster." References Notes External links Listen online - The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 - The American Storyteller Radio Journal What caused the great Boston Molasses Flood? from the Massachusetts Historical Society "The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919", reprinted from Yankee Magazine An interview with Stephen Puleo, author of the book listed above (in References section) Molasses flood site, present-day pictures and list of 1919 inhabitants, at archive.org "Joshua's Song", children's book (fiction) centered upon the incident da:Melasseulykken i Boston fr:Grande inondation de mélasse de Boston it:Tsunami di melassa di Boston he:???? ????? ?? ?????? ja:???????? no:Melasseulykken i Boston sv:Melasskatastrofen i Boston