Synopsis
60th Anniversary Edition
Foreword by Dr. Jon Nese, former Weather Channel Storm Analyst
August 18-20, 1955: Three terrifying days and nights still remembered with awe in the Delaware River watershed.Record-breaking rainfall from back-to-back hurricanes—Connie, then Diane—abruptly ended a withering drought, but the relief was short-lived. It was soon overshadowed by terror and destruction that tore away bridges and ripped houses from their foundations.
From the river’s headwaters in the Catskills and through the Poconos, excessive runoff surged down steep slopes and through valleys on both sides of the river. Tributaries swelled unbelievably, some rising thirty feet in fifteen minutes. Eventually, they all poured into the Delaware, transforming the usually placid waters into a raging, uncontrollable beast. Mountain resorts were inundated, leaving cars up-ended in swimming pools. Entire summer camps were washed away. More than 400 children were evacuated by helicopter from island camps in a tense, unprecedented operation.
In the end, nearly a hundred people were dead and hundreds more homeless in the Delaware River watershed. Dozens were missing, some ripped—still sleeping—from their beds in the middle of the night. Victims’ bodies were still being recovered thirty years later—at least one was never found.
Despite several more destructive floods in the first decade of this century, the deadly flood of 1955 remains the record-holder in terms of lives lost, property destroyed and longterm effects on the Delaware River. Devastation on the Delaware follows the true stories of survivors and eyewitnesses to bring these chilling events to life. More than 125 historical photos and two dozen+ maps illustrate this definitive account of a tragic weather disaster that changed life in the Delaware watershed forever.
“In the tradition of Isaac’s Storm and The Johnstown Flood, Mary A. Shafer’s Devastation on the Delaware is a meticulously researched, compellingly written account of a major meteorological catastrophe. The stories of innocent people swept away in raging flood waters—some of them taken by surprise in the middle of the night or carried off while would-be rescuers extended helping hands—will haunt me. The prose is crisp, the photos mesmerizing...an electrifying read.”
– David Laskin, author of The Children’s Blizzard and Braving the Elements
À propos de l?auteur
Mary A. Shafer is a native Pennsylvanian, born in the Amish country of Lancaster. She spent every childhood summer with relatives in Huntingdon and Mifflin counties, and grew to know and love Pennsylvania and its history. Her family moved to Wisconsin when she was very young, and she lived there for thirty years before returning to the Keystone State in 1997. Mary now resides in Bucks County. An honor student at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin campuses at Stout and Milwaukee, she earned her Associate of Applied Science degree in Graphic Design and Communication at Milwaukee Area Technical College and went on to teach there. She now teaches courses in writing, publishing, marketing and drawing in several community school programs in Bucks County. Mary makes her living at The Word Forge, a full-service freelance writing and boutique marketing firm. She is a contributor to several local newspapers, and to local and national magazines. She also consults with independent book publishers as The Indie Navigator (IndieNavigator.com). She receives help with general clerical duties from Idgie, the inbox kitty. Her first book, Wisconsin, The Way We Were: 1845-1945, was published by Heartland Press in 1993. 1995 saw the release of Ms. Shafer’s second book, Rural America: A Pictorial Folk Memory, by Willow Creek Press. It won a Best Book award from the Mid-America Publishers Association. She edited and contributed to Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them, an anthology published in 2008 by Enspirio House. Mary’s work has appeared in numerous trade, consumer and institutional magazines and newspapers. Mary blogs occasionally about writing, her work, and related topics on her author website at MaryShafer.com, and about severe weather, storm chasing and related issues on her Storm Whisperer blog at StormDiaries.com/blog. Mary is a National Weather Service certified SkyWarn weather spotter, a self-described “weather weenie,” a sometime storm chaser, and the founder of the Amateur Weather Enthusiasts of America (AWE-USA). For thirteen years, she served as volunteer weather and communications coordinator for the Nockamixon Township Emergency Management Agency, and was commended for her community service during a week-long activation during Superstorm Sandy. She sits on the flood advisory board for The Delaware River Basin Commission. Mary is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, PennWriters, and the Twin Rivers Writers Group.
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