Hurricane Agnes

Some of you will remember just thirty years ago when Hurricane Agnes spread devastation throughout our area. Let me refresh your memory... Awful Agnes began as a tropical disturbance off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico on June 14, 1972. As the disturbance moved northward, it strengthened and became a tropical storm and by June 19 Agnes became a hurricane. Agnes made landfall along the Florida pan handle on June 19, then proceeded through Georgia, South and North Carolina before she moved back over the Atlantic off the North Carolina coast on June 21.

After regaining strength over the Atlantic, she made landfall again over southeastern New York on June 22 and moved westward in an arc over southern New York into north-central Pennsylvania. She became nearly stationary over Pennsylvania by morning of June 23. In the three weeks preceding the arrival of Agnes, Pennsylvania as a whole had received 2 to 3 inches of rain, thus greatly increasing the runoff potential of Agnes. Rainfall from June 20-25 reached 18 inches in the Susquehanna River basin.

The 1972 floods were widespread, resulting in extremely rare floods on major rivers and streams. The flood recurrence frequency in many locations exceeded 100 years, most notably on the Susquehanna River downstream of Waverly, New York.

Wilkes-Barre endured catastrophic flooding in 1936, when the Susquehanna crested a record 33 feet above its normal levels, flooding much of the town and raising concerns about future disasters. To mitigate the damage from future floods, town officials commissioned the building of enormous dikes that could contain a rise of 37 feet, unable to imagine a storm that could breach them.

On Thursday night, June 22, Agnes did the unimaginable. Torrential rains sent the mighty Susquehanna near the top of the dikes and sent thousands of residents fleeing for higher ground. The river eventually crested at more than 40 feet, pouring over the dikes and swamping downtown Wilkes-Barre under several feet of water. In Kingston during the height of the floods, of 6600 homes only 20 were above water. Water reached onto the second floor on Warren Street, Kingston and cars were flipped like toys in the Gateway Shopping Center, Kingston. Along route 11 in Edwardsville, water almost was on the roof of the Narrows Shopping Center. All merchandise in the basement and on the first floor of the Boston Store, Wilkes-Barre, was lost. Dan's TV Sales and Service, Shickshinny, remained standing, but the foundation was completely undermined. Bernard Racusin's two stores were wiped out, as was Winterstein's restaurant. About sixty homes in Shickshinny and Mocanaqua were badly damaged or destroyed.

Benton Borough Council needed two emergency sessions to stop the dumping of flood debris at the Benton dump, following the dumping of over 50 loads of debris after the dump was locked at night. Council President Jim Edson was told that the Army Corps of Engineers was going to take over the Shickshinny cleaning process and the dumping could not be stopped. Jim convinced the Williamsport office of the PA Department of Environmental Resources to send a representative to Benton to discuss the matter. President Edson, Donald Rabb and Paul Franklin accompanied by two state officials left for Shickshinny after allowing two trucks that arrived from Shickshinny to dump their loads. All dumping was then stopped.

Others who get credit for the work they did during the Agnes period included Chief of Police Claude Lewis and Civil Defense Head James Boudman. Switch boxes and stoker motors and equipment at the L. Ray Appleman Elementary School were under water. Men in Central made a hanging bridge across the swollen waters of Fishing Creek to allow Elk Grove citizens to get across Fishing Creek. The Orangeville bridge was destroyed during Hurricane Agnes and about a month after a "Bailey Bridge" was installed at Orangeville a tractor trailer truck sunk that bridge. Mud inches deep covered everything in the aftermath of Agnes. The river in Wilkes-Barre officially crested at 40.3 feet, although that is probably not accurate because the flood took out the measuring equipment.

The Agnes flood was the greatest flooding event known in the Susquehanna River basin in regards to both the area affected and the magnitude of the flood flow. Only the extreme upper headwaters escaped disastrous flooding. Flooding along the Susquehanna above Binghamton was only minor. Flood flows increased greatly downstream to Waverly, New York, which had a 40-year flood. The points along the Susquehanna River from the mouth of the Chemung River down to the Chesapeake Bay experienced the worst flooding since 1784, the earliest known records. Peak flows were often 1.5 times greater than the previous known maximum flood.

Flooding on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River was reduced somewhat by flood-control reservoirs, but the lower reaches of the West Branch still experienced record high peak flows. It was estimated that the flood peak at Williamsport would have been up to 4 feet higher if it had not been for the reservoirs. Major flooding was also observed on all tributaries downstream of the West Branch Susquehanna River down to the Juniata River.

Harrisburg suffered similar devastation. The Susquehanna rushed more than a half-mile out of its banks, inundating the capitol's downtown streets. Also ravaged was the new riverfront Governor's mansion, where brown, murky water covered the entire first floor.

Hurricane Agnes was the costliest natural disaster in the United States at that time. Damage was estimated at $3.1 billion and 117 deaths were reported. Hardest hit was Pennsylvania, with $2.1 billion in damages and 48 deaths, making Hurricane Agnes the worst natural disaster ever to hit the state. The damage over Pennsylvania was so extreme, the entire state was declared a disaster area by President Richard Nixon.

--Hurricane Agnes Rainfall and Floods, June-July 1972: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 924, Bailey, J.F., J.L. Patterson, USGS, and J.L.H. Paulhus, NWS. U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, DC. 1975.
--Water Resources Bulletin No. 9: Hydrologic Data of the June 1972 Flood in Pennsylvania Miller, R. Adam. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources: Harrisburg, PA. August 1974.
--Tropical Storm Agnes June 1972: Post Flood Report Volume I, eteorology and Hydrology Gannett, Flemming, Corddry and Carpenter, Engineers. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Baltimore, MD. November, 1974.
--Sullivan Review, July 6, 1972