If so, then it seems to serve more as a very loose inspiration, with little attempts to be factually accurate. For instance, one only has to look at the deaths reported at the time (which may well be not all that accurate themselves, but that's a different question altogether), which on the show clearly is much higher, to see that they are playing very fancy-free with the events for dramatic purposes.
The timeframe does still seem to fit, though, so t's not all just plucked out of the blue either.