Hurricane Diane hit the Lehigh Valley in August of 1955. Living in Little Lehigh Manor, I remember huddling in the house, while the metal garbage cans of the era flew around the neighborhood. My father, whose meat market was on Union Street by the Lehigh River, worked throughout the night. Fortunately for him, his market had an second floor backup cooler, and a small freight elevator. While the retail business district on Hamilton Street is elevated enough to be unaffected from flooding, center city Easton was devastated by the Delaware. The next morning was rather surreal for a nine year old boy. A large willow tree on the corner of Lehigh Parkway South and Catalina Ave. was lying on it's side. Although the Little Lehigh receded quickly, the park road and basin had been flooded. Diane remains a record in flooding and damage. Let us hope it remains that way.
reprinted from August 2011
photo from August 1955. Delaware rising up Northampton Street in Easton.
I remember the pontoon bridge going over the Delaware River between Easton and Philippsburg
ReplyDeletespencer@8:04, that was a pretense. another cited reason was that the island was supposedly being used for homosexual activity. can you imagine such a statement being made now in 2016? in truth, the park director at that time eliminated numerous features of the system; the trexler greenhouse, the boat landing, and the island among them. at that time, as now, only one person was publicly complaining; mr. luckenbach wrote frequent letters to the editor noting these assaults against the traditional park system.
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