This Week is the 50th Anniversary of the Agnes Flood

[Mike in Horseheads]

This year is 50 yrs since Agnes destroyed lot of property in NYS , PA and more.

 

...Not sure how many lost family or property in this tragedy but thought I'd throw it out there. I was lucky at 12 yrs old , lived in northern Elmira so no property damage . AOMC was 2 blocks from my house so we didn't see a lot of of my mother who was a RN. Biggest thing I remember is the constant Army helicopters fly over my house 24 hrs a day bringing in supplies and people. It was crazy as a kid to understand.

 

Please feel free folks to share your memories

Edited June 20, 2022 by Mike in Horseheads

[The Dean]

10 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

This year is 50 yrs since Agnes destroyed lot of property in NYS , PA and more.

 

...Not sure how many lost family or property in this tragedy but thought I'd throw it out there. I was lucky at 12 yrs old , lived in northern Elmira so no property damage . AOMC was 2 blocks from my house so we didn't see a lot of of my mother who was a RN. Biggest thing I remember is the constant Army helicopters fly over my house 24 hrs a day bringing in supplies and people. It was crazy as a kid to understand.

 

Please feel free folks to share your memories

 

 

I was living in Niagara Falls at the time. I'm now 65.  I have absolutely zero memory of that storm. Can't remember every hearing the name, quite frankly. Did it impact more of the Southern Tier or Eastern part of NYS?

[Draconator]

I had no idea it was a Hurricane, and I remember hearing stories how downtown Corning was flooded years ago. Again, no idea it was from this Hurricane. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Agnes

[Mike in Horseheads]

9 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

 

I was living in Niagara Falls at the time. I'm now 65.  I have absolutely zero memory of that storm. Can't remember every hearing the name, quite frankly. Did it impact more of the Southern Tier or Eastern part of NYS?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Agnes

A

1 minute ago, Draconator said:

I had no idea it was a Hurricane, and I remember hearing stories how downtown Corning was flooded years ago. Again, no idea it was from this Hurricane. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Agnes

I just moonlanded your link, sorry. Nobody died in Elmira but peeps did in Corning

[Draconator]

14 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Agnes

A

I just moonlanded your link, sorry. Nobody died in Elmira but peeps did in Corning

It's all good. This is why I love this board. So many smart folks on here. 

[T&C]

1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

 

I was living in Niagara Falls at the time. I'm now 65.  I have absolutely zero memory of that storm. Can't remember every hearing the name, quite frankly. Did it impact more of the Southern Tier or Eastern part of NYS?

Same here, I don't remember any issues in Lancaster either. I do know about the hurricane but that was after the fact.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Mount Morris Dam was tested by Agnes.    GO ACoE! ESSAYONS!

 

@BringBackFergy

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/memmott/2021/11/05/mount-morris-dam-tested-hurricane-agnes-1972/6266721001/

 

When it saved Rochester...1972 Hurricane Agnes: (Edit: this isn't '72, just a normal run of the mill saving of Rochester)

This is '72:

When it's not saving Rochester:

2 hours ago, The Dean said:

 

 

I was living in Niagara Falls at the time. I'm now 65.  I have absolutely zero memory of that storm. Can't remember every hearing the name, quite frankly. Did it impact more of the Southern Tier or Eastern part of NYS?

It tracked further East.  My father worked on Erie-Lackawanna... The storm ripped up critical infrastructure,  track... Hastened the demise of the E/L RR and the move to Conrail. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Agnes

A

I just moonlanded your link, sorry. Nobody died in Elmira but peeps did in Corning

And they would have in Rochester Area had The Corps not built a dam in 1952.

 

😏... 

 

Oh, to all my essential peeps, button pushers out there!

 

@Gugny

@Beerball

 

 

Special mention to @muppy for defending my honor! 😊 Take a look around those pics upstream here!

[ExiledInIllinois]

Good info.  $3.2 billion in damage for 1972... Just imagine what that is in 2022: ~$23 billion today.  BILLION!

 

https://www.weather.gov/ctp/Agnes

 

It hooked around.  Up NYC and back over Binghamton... Harrisburg got 15" of rain... That's tough in those ridges valleys of PA!

 

 

 

 

 

[Wacka]

Lived near Cayuga Creek where it  crosses Union Rd. in Cheektowaga. The creek starts somewhere near Cuba, NY. The only time it flooded that spot was in 1972. The Army Corps Engineers built up the creek sides and no problems since. Thank you Exiled's predecessors. ! remember water over ny knees. My friends and I waded through the intersection at the time (I was 15)

Edited June 21, 2022 by Wacka

[ExiledInIllinois]

30 minutes ago, Wacka said:

Lived neadr Cayuga Creek where it  crosses Union Rd.in Cheektowaga. The creek starts somewhere near Cuba, NY. The only time it flooded that spot was in 1972. The Army Corps Engineers built up the creek sides and no problems since. Thank you Exiled's predecessors!emember wit wa over ny knees. My friends and I waded through the intersection at the time (I was 15)

Your welcome... Those predecessors... Probably stormed the beach @ Normandy and removed obstacles. A "crick" is nothing! This for @BringBackFergy

😏

 

https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Historical-Vignettes/Military-Construction-Combat/086-Normandy-Landing/

 

"Engineers would come ashore in the first and most dangerous waves of the landing, clearing the beach of German obstacles, establishing the first dumps of ammunition and supplies, clearing exits through the bluffs and other military and natural barriers behind the beach, and developing roads to allow American troops and equipment to get off the deadly beach and into the interior. Engineers composed 25 percent of the force the Allies planned to land on Omaha on the first day of the invasion."

 

I think it was the 80s when the Corps fixed that section by William on Union Road... By The Creekside Restaurant.  My father was born and grew up on Cayuga Creek road at Harlem... Grandfather was born on Cass Avenue.  I guess it used to flood bad every year.

 

I think they might have worked on BFLo Creek too. The RV place on Transit near Clinto in W.Senec/Blossom would always seem to be under water during storms.  But BFLo Creek was dammed for gristmills in 1800s with races that ran the waterwheels. We'd used to fish near the small dams in Blossom (Transit) by the feed store and the in Ebenezer (Union) in W.Seneca. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[BuffaloBill]

I was only 7 at the time and have vague memories of flooding in Corning.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, BuffaloBill said:

I was only 7 at the time and have vague memories of flooding in Corning.  

I was 4.  I was living in oblivion...😊 But my first recollection of TV was '72 Olympics... Mark Spitz... Old B&W TV.  That had to be right after the storm...

[Marv's Neighbor]

I was in the process of buying my first house, in N Virginia.  Drove out to the home site to see if everything was dry.  Thankfully, It was, and that house is still there 50 years later.

 

As I recall, that storm, and flood,  pretty much ended Piper Aircraft production in PA. 

 

Due to development in that area, if it happened now, it could be worse.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

16 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

 

 

😏... 

 

Oh, to all my essential peeps, button pushers out there!

 

@Gugny

@Beerball

 

 

 

Quick!  How long was the Arthur M. Anderson in 1972? 🤨

[Wacka]

4 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

 

 

I think it was the 80s when the Corps fixed that section by William on Union Road... By The Creekside Restaurant.  My father was born and grew up on Cayuga Creek road at Harlem... Grandfather was born on Cass Avenue.  I guess it used to flood bad every year.

 

 

They fixed the creek behind Creekside in 73 or 74, within a year or two of the flood from Agnes.  I know it was finished by time I graduated in 75. The creek bank was low behind Crekside and where Dave's  Christmas stuff was.  The kegs that were sitting outside from Creekside's grove were floating down William Street.You could tell that was where the bank was breached.

[Saxum]

11 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Good info.  $3.2 billion in damage for 1972... Just imagine what that is in 2022: ~$23 billion today.  BILLION!

 

https://www.weather.gov/ctp/Agnes

 

It hooked around.  Up NYC and back over Binghamton... Harrisburg got 15" of rain... That's tough in those ridges valleys of PA!

So you are saying in today's dollars it costs as much as a few LA/LV style football stadiums.

Hope that puts something in perspective.

[Captain_Quint]

PA took the brunt of the storm. I've seen alot of bad hurricanes since I moved south, but we're ready for them down here with flat and sandy soil. In the hills of PA, it was like filling a bucket up. It took years for some of the small mining towns in eastern and central PA to recover, and some never really did. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

11 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Quick!  How long was the Arthur M. Anderson in 1972? 🤨

Wasn't it lengthened? 

[Mike in Horseheads]

Pictures from Elmira...  https://www.stargazette.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2022/06/17/flood-72-50-years-ago-elmira/7636671001/