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Flood of 1972
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This month marks the 40th anniversary of the ’72
Flood. To commemorate the flood we have
a variety of activities planned at the museum, through our Facebook page and on
our blog. On Thursday June 21 the
exhibit Memories of the ’72 Flood opens
in the Barn Gallery. Everyone who lived
through the flood has a story. Through
images, objects and oral histories, Memories
of the ’72 Flood shares those stories.
In addition to viewing the exhibit, during the opening visitors can
listen to period music, share their own flood story and attend “Don’t Blame The
River,” a panel discussion sponsored by the Friends of the Chemung River
Watershed. The June edition of The Chemung Historical Journal features
articles about the flood as seen through the eyes of emergency responders and
the Chemung County Historian Archie Kieffer who was the Superintendent of Buildings
and Grounds for Chemung County in 1972. Our
Gift Shop specials continue with the flood issue of the Journal (August 1972) on sale for $3.00. On Facebook we are asking people to help us
locate flood level markers that were issued by the historical society, sharing
flood photos from the Booth Library and providing a day to day timeline of the
flood. Throughout the month look for
posts here about Operation Rebuild
and tips on how to care for water damaged collections.
As we were preparing for Memories
of the ’72 Flood, I got extremely curious about Chemung County’s flood
history. My curiosity got the better of
me and I discovered a few things. It
should be no surprise, that there have been floods throughout the county’s
history but there is a difference between ‘smaller’ floods which never cause
much damage and ‘major’ ones that cause damage.
Perhaps this quote from a ’72 Flood oral history explains it best – “We
had been through a lot of floods but had never seen anything like this. This flood was just unbelievable. It went up a foot then another foot and another
foot and it just kept coming and it just did not stop. And most floods you would see recede by the
next morning and you wouldn’t have any water there and it would be gone.”
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| Flood of 1889 - Corner of Madison Avenue and Church Street |
There have been over 23 recorded major floods in Chemung County’s
history. The first recorded flood was in
1784. Another fact I discovered is that
people in the 18th and 19th centuries liked to name the
floods. The 1784 was the Ice Flood. 1833 had the Great Inundation (1833) and the Tremendous Flood occurred in 1861. There were even several Pumpkin Floods where pumpkins actually floated down the Chemung River. During the 1817 flood pumpkins made it all
the way to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.
Can you imagine! 1857 wasn’t a
very good year as there were 3 floods in June, July and November. The worst recorded flooding in the 19th
century was the St. Patrick’s Day Flood
of 1865. Since snow began falling in
October 1864 and pretty much never let up, it should not have been a surprise
that the Chemung River flooded once the snow began to melt. Lower areas of the Confederate Prison Camp
(mainly the small pox hospital) were evacuated while in the higher areas
prisoners were ordered to stay on the second and third tiers of their bunks
(where they remained for two days). The
flood even washed away 2,700 feet of the camp’s stockade wall.
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| Flood of 1902 |
Beginning with St.
Patrick’s Day Flood it seems each new flood “topped” the last one. Not only that but it seems several floods were
followed by more inclement weather. The Flood of 1889 topped the St. Patrick’s Day Flood. The Flood
of 1902 topped 1889. After two days
of flooding in March 1902 the area was hit by sharp temperature decline and a
snowstorm. I should point out the mayor
of Elmira at the time was Frank Flood. The
Flood of 1946 topped 1902. In May and June 1946, five days of rain were
followed by flooding which was then followed by 2 severe windstorms. Of course the ’72 Flood topped 1946.
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| Flood of 1946 - Corner of Main and Water Streets |
My favorite flood story is simple flood marker kept by Asa
Parshall showing flood crests near Katydid Curve in Chemung. Mr. Parshall’s marker - a tree!
Do you have a flood story?
