A deluge
of destruction and determination
“Water
Power: The Flood of ‘06”
by Rebecca VanDerHeide
on WSKG Radio's OFF THE PAGE
L I V E Tuesday, October 2nd at 1pm
(Repeating at 7pm)
|
A
major flood leaves its mark on both the landscape and human experience.
It
is noted that nearly every culture has a saga
based on destruction by water,
the lesson being that a benign and clear substance necessary for life can also
sweep away everything. The Biblical accounting of the Deluge in Genesis 6-9 ends
with a rainbow of reassurance. But localized floods still occur with regularity,
often as harmful as the one during the final days of June, 2006 in the Susquehanna
River Basin and adjacent waterways.
The flood of aught-six (now referred to
by some people in the area as the “invisible
flood” since it received limited national news coverage) was the worst
flood in the Upper Susquehanna’s recorded history. The 27-foot flood stage
at Bainbridge broke a record that had stood for 92 years and the 33 ½ feet
at Vestal surpassed the infamous flood of 1935 (the subject of an award-winning
WSKG-TV documentary) and the recurrence one year later.
However, the true
account of a natural disaster can best be known in the direct experience of people
who
suffered, struggled
and recovered, and that is the story
told by Rebecca VanDerHeide of Nineveh, NY in her book “Water
Power: The
Flood of ‘06”. The 165-page self-published large format paperback
contains scores of personal accounts and some 200 photos by Ms.VanDerHeide and
others. Her narrative often reads like an adventure novel.
First Assistant Chief
Jamie VanAbs responded to a call that came in to the Harpursville Fire Department
Tuesday evening, June 27, 2006. It was training night at the
station and it had been raining steadily for two days. The call notified
the firefighters that water was now flowing over the road a
few hundred yards from
the East Windsor Road where the creek passed through a large culvert beneath
the Perch Pond Road. Jamie and a young, less experienced recruit set off
to set up cones closing the road. When they arrived at the
west side of the swollen
creek, they got out to place the barriers and inspect the situation. Jamie
remembers
the roar of the water and a loud crunching noise produced by the loose stones
and debris percolating against the huge metal culvert.
The
young man with Jamie was in favor of driving through the fast water
covering the road in order to replace the remaining cones on the east
side of the stream.
As Jamie was explaining to the recruit that you should
never, EVER drive through water because you do not know the condition
of the road beneath, there was a
tremendous crash and the entire road, pavement, culvert
and all, disappeared before their eyes into the torrent. Jamie recalled
that the whole washout happened
in about five seconds. His assistant stood on the bank
of the abyss no doubt envisioning where he would be if they had ventured
through the flooding. He was
grateful to have survived that life and death teachable
moment.
--
from Water Power: The Flood of ‘06
The
book is filled with stories of despair and hope, fear
and courage, and the strength and ingenuity that come into
play during an emergency. If the cruelly
rising water was the sole villain, the heroes are numerous. Becky
VanDerHeide recorded oral histories as well as reporting
on the flood and its aftermath.
Among the chapters that are now part of the historical record:
-
The
staff of radio station WCDO in Sidney struggled to stay on
the air, even as their AM transmitter was inundated,
the downtown
studios
blacked
out and
only the FM transmitter remained operable in its remote
location
with electric power
uncertain. WCDO provided coverage as continuously as possible,
both to report accurate information and suppress rumors. Station
manager
Craig
Stevens’ eyewitness
account of the flood in Sidney from aboard a fire department
rescue boat was equal to the finest moments in emergency broadcasting.
- The
Nineveh Presbyterian Church had experienced flooding before,
but this time there was also damage to a fanciful set
of large
hand puppets
that had
once charmed
both young and old while delivering a spiritual message.
At first it seemed that the Kingdom Puppets had “drowned”;
they were waterlogged and caked with mud. But after careful
cleaning by hand and then a few rides in a washing
machine and time on a sunny clothesline, the beloved puppets
returned as beautiful as ever. Rebecca VanDerHeide’s
next project will be a children’s
book about the Kingdom Puppets.
Becky
VanDerHeide visits Bill Jaker on
OFF THE PAGE to share experiences of the
Flood of ’06 and her efforts to write about it. Listeners
from across the WSKG listening area are invited to join in
the conversation
with questions,
comments
or their own flood stories. The phone number is 888/359-9754
and the address for messages by e-mail is WSKG.Radio@Gmail.com. |
NEXT TIME: Do college students believe in ghosts? It appears
that most colleges have at least one spectral phenomenon hanging
out around the old quad. In
a new book as unlikely as it is significant, Binghamton University folklorist
and associate professor of English Elizabeth Tucker has surveyed this spooky
field. Dr. Tucker visits OFF THE PAGE on Tuesday, October 16th to tell about “Haunted
Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses”.
 OFF THE PAGE archives
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Friday, October 5, 2007 7:47 AM
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