Devastation on the Delaware

Lehigh Valley Public TV's Tempo! magazine did a two-part segment on the flood during its 50th anniversary in 2005. Mary was a primary source for much of their material. Watch clips from the first segment above.

 

Weather Whys? - Dr. Jon Nese, former Weather Channel storm analyst and now head of Penn State University's Meteorology Department, explains the weather that caused the flood of 55. Dr. Nese wrote the foreword for Mary's book. First broadcast 8-15-2007

 

The Hawk 99.9FM Morning Show - Author Mary Shafer appeared for an hour-long interview with Hawk Morning Show hosts Rick Michaels and Samantha Layne on May 26, 2006, as that year's Atlantic hurricane season got underway. We've posted about 20 minutes worth of clips from that interview in mp3 audio format. You should be able to play this file using any of the popular media players. Listen now to part of the interview.

Monroe County and Stroudsburgs - This 5-minute video was compiled from home movies shot by the father of Brian St. Pierre of State College, Pennsylvania. At the time of the 1955 Flood, the family lived in Monroe County, giving them access to the Stroudsburgs – some of the hardest-hit areas.

Highlights:

• The first half-minute appears to cover the area along Rt. 611 (River Road) around Riegelsville in Upper Bucks County and Raubsville in lower Northampton County.
• At :35, a search plane flies over, segueing to what looks like washed-out bridge approaches, likely in Northampton County.
• At 1:05, an old woody station wagon zooms onscreen as it rolls across the grounds at Clearview School in Stroudsburg, which was used as a staging ground for search-and-rescue helicopter missions as well as a temporary morgue for the bodies they recovered.
• At 1:45, the scene changes to the absolute carnage of the mobile home park on East Stroudsburg's Day Street Flats, now a greenway called Lincoln Park.
• At 2:15, various shots of the washed-out State Bridge (also called the Interborough Bridge) over the Brodhead Creek between the Stroudsburgs and the torn-up area in the Minisink Hills near the silk mill (now Wal-Mart) and the box factory.
• At 2:40, back to the bridges and wrecked vehicles downtown.
• At 3:00, scenes of rebuilding as the State Bridge is newly raised above the flood line, where it still stands today in view of Interstate 80. Much debris and wreckage from the flood is still visible among the cranes and pile drivers.
• At 3:35, cars can be seen moving across another newly opened roadway past houses toppled off their foundations and left lying alongside the road. A brief tour up the high part of Rt. 611 North shows us some areas of the Delaware Water Gap until
• At 4:15, we're back to the rebuilding of the State Bridge, while neighbors are still cleaning up and the Brodhead, now back in its banks, appears deceptively placid as we fade to black.