Daja Vu! All over again?

     Yogi Berra said it best. "It's Daja Vu all over again!"
      After escaping rising flood waters in Hershey on
Wednesday, Thursday greeted us with the news that
Luzerne County was in for the possibility of a flood
that could equal the one caused by Tropical Storm
Agnes in 1972!
       Whenever that Agnes flood comes up I usually
hear from somebody who wants me to talk about it.
        I was a radio reporter when it hit and was
literally drafted to be the Public Information Officer
for what was Luzerne County Civil Defense at the
time. I worked along side the public servants who
were trying to save life and property during that
disaster. And I was the one who got to pass their
messages along to the people in the storm's path.
       That included one of my more famous
announcements...."Get out. Get out now!" That,
of course, came as 60,000 or so people were
evacuated from their homes when the
Susquehanna poured over its banks and into the
streets of Wyoming Valley.
        I'm told I'm picked for the interviews about
Agnes because I was so involved with the
flood coverage and its aftermath.
        I think the real reason is that I'm one of the
few people who worked in that Civil Defense Office
who is still alive!
         I remember water shooting up out of a
drain in the tiny room where my two way radio was
set up. That was in the Sub basement of the Luzerne
County Courthouse. Civil Defense across our
country was set up to deal with Cold War threats
more than attacks by "Mother Nature."
         I remember helping the late Luzerne County
Commissioner Ethel Price moving boxes of Public
Records from the basement of the Courthouse
to the first floor so as many could be saved as
possible.
          A lot has changed from the days of Agnes!
          Emergency Management has taken over
the duties that had belonged to Civil Defense and
it does so from a modern building well above the
Susquehanna.
          The levee system that protects Wyoming
Valley is higher and flood forecasting is much
improved.
           There are new, higher, bridges that span
the river.
            But two things haven't changed in all those
years. The river and streams still seek their own
path when the ground is saturated and the rains
keep coming! 
            And there's still an awful lot of people
willing to give their time and talents to try to keep
the rest of us as safe as possible under the
circumstances.
             We own them all our thanks!
              And, as for when we'll see the light at
the end of the tunnel for this latest threat...Yogi
also reminded us that "It ain't over til it's over."
              Hope all's well that ends well and that
all your NEWS is good!