With the amount of rain we have gotten this week, I was left thinking about the various photographs of local storms and flooding we have here at HSMC.
One of the collections contains color photographs from a small community in West Norriton known as Port Indian. These photographs, donated to us by William F. Runkle, depict the flooding along the Schuylkill River after Hurricane Agnes went through the area in late June 1972.
According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Agnes hit Florida as a Category 1 before continuing north and east. Seen in the image below, it regained strength when it entered the Atlantic Ocean before coming back towards Pennsylvania.
The rainfall brought widespread flooding to communities along the Schuylkill River. The Times Herald recorded several photographs and stories about the flood. The storm caused forty-eight deaths and over $2 billion dollars in damage in Pennsylvania alone.
Due to the destruction, Hurricane Agnes was listed as one of the worst storms to hit the area. The Schuylkill River at Norristown crested at 25.10 feet, the highest on record at that time. That record was broken last year when the river crested at 26.85 feet after Hurricane Ida hit the area in September 2021.
Sources:
“Flood of June 1972 – Hurricane Agnes.” National Weather Service. https://www.weather.gov/bgm/pastFloodJune1972
“Top10 Highest Historical Crests: Schuylkill River at Norristown, PA.” 1/14/2020 https://www.weather.gov/media/marfc/Top20/SEPA/Norristown.pdf
Heinze, Justin. “All-Time Record Floods Slam Schuylkill River, Perkiomen Creek” Patch,
Thu, Sep 2, 2021. https://patch.com/pennsylvania/norristown/schuylkill-river-floods-all-time-record-height-norristown
Kiner, Deb. “‘A cruel blow’: Tropical Storm Agnes devastated Pa. in 1972” PennLive, Jun. 20, 2020. https://www.pennlive.com/life/2020/06/a-cruel-blow-tropical-storm-agnes-devastated-pa-in-1972.html#:~:text=Agnes%20caused%20more%20than%20%242,Milton%20J.