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WILKES-BARRE — Sunday marked the 47th anniversary of the most devastating flood in Wyoming Valley history.
Did you forget?
On June 23, 1972, Hurricane Agnes caused the Susquehanna River to swell to the point that it came right through the protective levees — along Riverside Drive in Wilkes-Barre, Forty Fort behind the cemetery, and on Beade Street in Plymouth — and into the homes and businesses of Wyoming Valley.
It was devastating, to say the least. Lost were homes, businesses, memories and dreams. It was an event that caused us all to take pause and wonder about where we would go from here.
Most of those affected by the flood stayed to rebuild, They returned to their flood-damaged properties and rolled up their sleeves and went about the business of cleaning up.
For many, the decision to stay was easy; to others, not so much. Many people decided to leave the flood plain and head for the dry hills.
And now, some 47 years and two days later, we assess where we are — where we have come since June 1972. And we ask, “Are we better off today than we were back then?”
Many people wonder if we are adequately protected from another flood. Could Agnes happen again? Many “flood experts” were amazed that we didn’t experience an even greater devastating flood in 2011 when the river reached new heights and the levee system held.
Had it not held in 2011, where would we be today? Would the Wyoming Valley have been able to come back the way it did in 1972? Would that spirit — that gritty determination that was everywhere in 1972 — return in the face of yet another disaster?
Let’s hope and pray we never find out. May we never be tested again like we were in 1972.
Like many of you out there, I lived through the 1972 flood. My dad and I lost just about everything we owned that carried sentimental value. It all was washed away with the muddy river water that entered our homes without any concern for anything near and dear to us.
We all can close our eyes and see that flood mud and we can still smell it. It was awful. The Susquehanna River swelled to a mile wide in 1972, taking weeks to recede and leaving us with weeks and months to clean up/remodel and to renew our spirits.
We made national news. Family members across the country were worried when they couldn’t get through to their loved ones back home. And everywhere you looked, there were trailers set up to provide temporary housing for people displaced by the flood.
Life as we all knew it, was over. Time stood still. Those affected worked tirelessly to clean up and those unaffected helped. This was a time when people banded together to help one another. And they did it without hesitation and they did it because it had to be done.
I saw the effort up close and personal in Plymouth. The townsfolk there showed up every day to get assignments to go out and help their fellow flood-affected residents rid their homes of flood mud and to try to salvage as much of their past to help them rebuild for the future.
The effort was remarkable — the town came back in rapid time. As did all the others. It was a trying time that tested the will of all those affected. And the spirit of Wyoming Valley, as damaged as it was, fought through it all and peace would return to the land.
When the river finally returned to its normal flow and the comeback continued for the people, the trail of devastation remained for years — decades even.
What was taken would never, really, be regained. All of those family heirlooms, photographs, jewelry, diplomas, letters, keepsakes — all gone forever. And the fear that arrived with the floodwaters remains to this day.
Every time the river starts to rise just a little, people who went through Agnes in 1972 start to panic. And as the river goes up, so does the fear level. People start taking furniture and sentimental items to the second or third floors of their homes. They prepare for the worst. They fear the worst. They don’t want a recurrence.
Agnes 1972 did a lot of damage — to our homes, businesses and our lives. It took away much that will never return.
And yes, 47 years later, we remember all too well.
We just may have tired of telling the same stories over and over.
