Tropical Storm Agnes in Greater Harrisburg

INTRODUCTION

In 1794, George Washington stopped in Harrisburg en route to Carlisle and addressed his troops in Market Square. The stone slab on which he reportedly stood while giving the address was later inscribed, noting the occasion. This slab was later relocated to the Harris-Cameron Mansion on Front Street, near the Susquehanna River. A short distance from the slab and mansion, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Bridge spans the Susquehanna. Painted on one of the concrete support piers are a series of lines and numbers indicating the river stage. These markings are especially useful to the nearby residents of the riverfront neighborhood of Shipoke, who keep an eye cast towards the Susquehanna as it begins to rise. The uppermost of these lines is one that is situated above the 30 feet mark and does not have a number next to it, just Agnes 1972. The 1972 is largely superfluous. Agnes alone would have sufficed to mark the occasion.

This painted message, along with the line on the river gauge on City Island, the plaque at the Sled Works in Duncannon, and the small plaque on the wall in Semoff’s Barber Shop in New Cumberland, are small reminders of Agnes’s brief but devastating visit to the Harrisburg area. But 40 years have passed, and those who witnessed Agnes firsthand are at least middle-aged. Many others have passed on. The question that begs to be asked is simply, can we afford to forget?

Prior to the arrival of Agnes in June 1972, an air of complacency seems to have settled over the region in regards to the danger of flooding. The last major flood was the flood of 1936, when the Susquehanna River crested at just over 29 feet in Harrisburg. Historian and journalist Paul Beers wrote, The prediction that came out of 1936 was that it could happen only once every 200 years. And while measures were put into place following the 1936 flood to protect against future floods of that magnitude, what occurred 36 years later when Agnes arrived was not of the same magnitude.

On Monday, June 19, Agnes made landfall over the Florida Panhandle as a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. Over the next 48 hours, the storm continued overland, curling up the eastern seaboard and weakening to a tropical depression along its way. On June 21, Agnes reached the Virginia coast, where it was reinvigorated by another low-pressure system, intensifying Agnes to tropical storm status with sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. By June 22, Agnes again turned towards the East Coast, crossing overland near New York City and moving across northeast Pennsylvania as it headed north. On June 23, Agnes was absorbed into a low-pressure system and was no longer a threat.

However, over the course of June 21 and June 22, nearly 15 inches of rain had fallen in Harrisburg. The same was true to the north of the city along the main and western branches of the Susquehanna. All of this rain fell onto saturated ground that could not hold any more moisture, so the runoff was forced into the surrounding creeks and streams and ultimately back into the river, which headed south towards Harrisburg.

The first significant round of flooding in the city occurred on the morning of June 22 from Paxton Creek, which transformed into a raging torrent several city blocks wide. The amount of water rushing down from Wildwood Park was so intense that one resident reported seeing a three-foot wall of water coming down Cameron Street at the intersection with Paxton Street. It was this floodwater that prompted the evacuation of neighborhoods and businesses all along the Cameron Street corridor and ultimately took the lives of two individuals.

As Paxton Creek was running amok in the city streets, the Susquehanna River was at 15 feet, still two feet below flood stage. But over the next 15 hours, it would rise, on average, nearly one foot per hour, reaching 28 feet by 3:00 a.m. on June 23. The river would eventually crest at 32.8 feet at noon on June 24.

Due to the varying heights of the riverbank, not all of the riverfront was flooded. At Division Street, the floodwaters reached back to the Polyclinic Hospital and covered the gardens surrounding Italian Lake. At Maclay Street, the Governor’s Mansion let in five feet of water on the first floor. The executive residence had only been in use since 1969, when the previous governor’s mansion, at Front and Barbara Streets, was deemed inadequate and ultimately torn down. Ironically, the place where the previous governor’s residence once stood did not flood and remained dry.

Where the water did come up over the banks, there were additional problems beyond evacuating residents and water damage to personal property. Transportation and evacuation routes, for the public and for emergency personnel, were either limited or inaccessible. Public safety became a concern, with police forces spread thin throughout the widely flooded areas. The mayor’s office instituted a citywide curfew, and the National Guard was called in to deter crime