Old Man River...He Just keeps Rolling Along!

   Circumstances seem to suggest some
commentary a little more serious than I usually
offer so I hope you'll bear with me this one
time.    
    Hundreds and hundreds of years ago...before
the immigrants migrated to Wyoming Valley to
mine its 'Black gold'...native Americans hunted,
fished, and traveled along the only highway
running through the area.
    That 'highway' was the Susquehanna River.
    Cities throughout our country were often
built along rivers. They were the 'highways' of
the past!
     At one time you could board a Steam Boat
near the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre
for a trip on the river.
    Some of you may be surprised to learn that
it is still, technically, a 'navigatable waterway.'
    I guess, at its  recent depths, you could have
sailed all the way to the Delaware Bay..IF your
vessel wasn't sunk by the trees and debris floating
along in the swift current!
    The Susquehanna helped bring prosperity to
our area.
     But it has also brought destruction! And lots of
it.
     There's been a lot of talk over the past few days
as to which was worse.....Tropical Storm Agnes in
1972 or what has now become 'The Flood of 11.'
      As one well respected judge once told me......
"The answer depends on whose ox is being gored!"
      If you're one of the 80,000 people in the
'Anthracite region' left homeless or the 24,000 who
had damaged homes and businesses in '72 then Agnes
is your answer.
      If you're someone who didn't have any damage
then.... but have lost your home or property to this
week's raging river...the Flood of 11 is the worst!
     I don't believe this should be an issue of
"My flood's bigger than your your flood!'
     There are lessons to be learned from the Agnes
disaster that can be applied to the current emergency.
     And there are lessons we should be learning from
the present struggle to help people affected now and
in future emergencies.
     And they will come!
     The Susquehanna will never be limited by the
boundaries man imposes! It's been 39 years since Agnes,
a so-called "100 year flood," ravaged Wilkes-Barre
and virtually all the West side communities in
Wyoming Valley.
     Man build higher levees which protected the city.
     But the river found a new path up and downstream
from the city.
     The area came back after Agnes. It will again.
     We'll make changes and try to correct the problems
we find.
     But Old Man River, the Susquehanna, will just keep
rolling along as nature, not man, dictates.
     Hope you're safe and well and that all your NEWS
is good."