In 1936, northeast United States was decimated by extensive flooding. While Johnstown, Pa. and Nashua, N.H. made national news, Allentown certainly wasn't spared. While locally flooding of the Lehigh and Delaware received the most attention, the Jordan and Little Lehigh Creeks also caused widespread damage. Shown above is Lehigh Street, in the vicinity of the Acorn Hotel, south of the Little Lehigh. The building on the far left would become the Sherman Hotel, which operated for about twenty years, from 1942 to 1961. None of the buildings pictured still stand.
The low lying areas between the Jordan Creek and Lehigh River were flooded. Numerous people were rescued by rowboat from porch roofs. At that time there was still many houses on the lower section of Hamilton and nearby Streets.
photo courtesy of the Schoenk family.
reprinted from April of 2020
Given that in recent history, Superstom Sandy caused servere flooding and coastal damage, are there adequate flood control measures to protect all the new NIZ buildings and such being planned for the riverfront?
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of tax dollars planed to be being poured into that area and it would be a tragedy for it to be flooded by the same river the developers are counting on for scenic beauty.
ROTHFLMAO!!!! Why in the world would anyone give a rat's rump if it floods???? After all, it was all financed with what people think (stooopid people, that is...) is FREE money!!! There is no free lunch, the stooge taxpayers are footing the bill and the stooge taxpayers will foot the future repairs bills... what say thee??? Maybe I'm all wet here.....
DeleteFrom family lore, the Lehigh waterfront used to flood regularly, until the Francis E. Walter Dam was built on the Lehigh (southeast of Wilkes-Barre). The other dams on tributaries north of Lehigh County, such as Beltzville Dam, help more. There was a plan to build the Trexler Dam in Lynn Township (Lehigh Cty), back in the 1960’s, but it never went through. Thus, Jordan Creek flooding has been similar to before, depending on floodplain changes. Jordan’s confluence with the (Little) Lehigh is downstream of the riverfront development. As long as humans tend the infrastructure (or the successor actors), riverfront flooding might be manageable. Adam’s Island, across the river, may have to continue enduring, but the houses are built with the expectation of occasional high water.
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