Valley Girl Views: Odd & Incredible Stories From After The 1972 Flood

The Sinks Lake, in Brady Twp, Lycoming County

As unexpected as it was for a hurricane, of all things, to be the worst natural disaster in the history of Pennyslvania, there were still more odd and interesting stories to come out of the devastating week of rain and flooding.

A hitchhiker from Arizona with only the clothes on his back and a guitar, was in charge of the children's activities at a Sunbury school were families were taking refuge from the flood. No one ever learned his last name. Two lakes formed, and stayed - actually growing larger as flood waters dispersed in other areas. Nearly 3,000 graves were forced out of the ground and throughout nearby areas when a dam broke in Forty Fort - and the army corp of engineers had to file a legal suit to enter one property and remove body parts that were still there, behind a restaurant, in August of that year. Two players from the Philadelphia Eagles, and one from the 76ers, showed up to play baseball with little league teams in Exeter., and a man with no fingerprints regaled stranded tourists with stories for 3 days, before heading on to visit his nephew in the Lewisburg Penitentiary.

Who Was Kevin?

In Sunbury, School Superintendent Earl Horton said that a man named Kevin has been organizing children's games, and getting the kids to form clean up details at the school, where 750-800 people were taking refuge during the flood.

Horton didn't know Kevin's last name. The bearded, long haired man was hitching from Phoenix Arizona to New York City with just the clothes on his back and a guitar, when he found himself stranded in Sunbury.

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The Two New Lakes Formed By Hurricane Agnes

In The Pennyslvania Geological Report, published by the DCNR after the flood, there were two pages dedicated to the Agnes Lacustrine Legacy. Or, the lakes created by Hurricane Agnes.

These were not the lakes formed in eveyr town, which subsided a day or two later. These formed from a combination of surface water and new ground water springs, and continued to rise for a few days after the rain stopped.

They did eventually disappear, months later, as drainage occurred through "underground seepage beneath topographic divides, through an unseen network of fractures and solutions channels in the limestone bedrock"

"Lake Agnes" In Limestone Twp, Montour County

The the lake, which covered L.R. 47020 and extended 2,000 feet north of the road, was a popular location for boaters, sight seers, and even water skiers, who enjoyed skimming over the top of wheat and corn fields. One local farmer, who owned part of the land under the lake, claimed that if he had been able to charge $1 for every person who visited, he would have made more money than he could have by farming the land.

Lake Agnes dropped at the rare of 1 1/2 inches a day, and it was 30 days before the lake had dropped 4 feet. At that time, it was no longer a good location for boaters.

Sinks Lake, Brady Twp, Lycoming County

The second lake still partially exists today, as it existed before the storm. Known as "Sinks Lake", in the Maple Hill area of Brady Township in Lycoming County, the lake covered two state roads - L.R. 41008 and 41009, to a depth of 6 1/2 or 7 feet. It was a mile and a half long and in its deepest areas was 40 feet deep.

Sinks lake was also popular with swimmers and boaters, but it was a great inconvenience to the residents, who found the only road out of the east end of the valley.

Sinks Lake was larger, and slower to drain, dropping only 15 inches by July 22.

The Sinks still exist, just not the actual "lake" that covered the roads.

The Maple Hill Sinks are a series of five limestone sinkholes ranging in size from 0.5 to 4 acres over
a distance of 1.4 miles The area is fed by sand springs, seeps and runoff from the surrounding valley. During rainy periods, the sinkholes fill to a depth exceeding 10 feet and become connected by a small stream. Maple Hill Sinks appears to be the largest and least disturbed sinkhole pond system in Pennsylvania.

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Why Is No One Asking About The Fingerprints?

In Lewisburg, 58 year old John Yosko, a former taxi driver & veteran tractor trailer driver from Long Island was in town to visit his nephew, who was serving five years in the federal penitentiary. He arrived in town late Wednesday and checked into a downtown motel, planning to make his visit on Thursday.

But at 4:30 am, the desk clerk called his room and told him he'd better get out if he didn't want to float out. He stood up and found that the water came to his ankles in his room.

Yosko drove to the Colonial Crest Hotel, on the hill south of Lewisburg, and sat in his car until the restaurant opened at 7am.

The hotel was packed with stranded tourists from Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and other states, all stranded on the hill due to flooded roads. Yosko volunteered his services as dishwasher.

Five foot two, grey haired dark eyed Yosko strapped on an apron, which came to his ankles, and volunteered to wash dishes.

When the dishes were under control, he'd saunter around the lounge chatting with the guests. His stories entertained the guests and made a welcome diversion, for those waiting out the flood waters.

He told stories about tough characters he met as a taxi driver, and about adventures as a truck operator in many states. He talked about his son in Vietnam, and his family life. Hopping from table to table, he entertained guests throughout the evening and early morning hours.

One of his stories went like this:

"Boy, that dish water sure is hot! Hard on the hands! Why, look at this - took my fingerprints right off!!" Whereupon he would hold out his hands to show that sure enough, there were no ridges on his fingers.

The news report states that "surprised guests soon figured out that the prints were removed some other way, but the story never failed to get a big response"

Sunday afternoon Yosko was finally able to head to the pen to visit his nephew.

The news story went on to report that Yosko's stories would be missed.

But they never explained why the man didn't have fingerprints.

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Where The Bodies Were No Longer Buried

When the levee broke in Forty Fort, a wild torrent of water rushed from the dike, making a pit, and spectators nearby watched in horror, wondering what the items the water threw into the pit, and back out. "Those couldn't be caskets", one bystander remarked.

But they were.

The water pouring through the hole in the flood control barrier had uprooted hundreds of caskets. The cemetery grounds had been turned into a deep, muddy pit.

Some caskets were still closed, but others were knocked open. Many bodies were still intact inside. Others were not. As refugees returned home, they were horrified to see more than 100 caskets around their homes - most of which did not have bodies inside.

1,410 caskets, remains, or vaults were recovered. 2,700 graves had been destroyed. It's believed that some of the caskets were so old and fragile that they were completely destroyed in the flood. And that others may have been forced under piles of gravel or sand, by the rushing water. Only 400 caskets were reburied.

If that's not all weird enough, in August of 1972 a judge had to order a Wyoming couple to allow the US Army Corp of Engineers onto their property to remove remains there.

Robert and Mary Ceccoli owned a driving range, and a restaurant at 905 Wyoming Avenue. A casket and vault had been observed on the driving range, behind Victory Pig BBQ. In the court proceedings, Mr Ceccoli testified that he wanted all of the bodies removed. So why was this in court?

Because apparently the Engineers planned to remove just what they could see, a casket and a vault, and leave. The Ceccoli's wanted all of the water drained and ALL of the bodies removed at once.

"Let them take out all the bodies and put the water back if they want to! Let them take the water and bodies immediately. This is a health hazard. I object to them taking the bodies piece by piece. I want them to take all the water and all the bodies. I first refused them permission to come on to the land because they wanted to take only a piece now and then. They go away and don't come back. I want them to take all the bodies at one time. "

He further testified that his wife had picked up a shoe and found it was attached to a leg. his son found a piece of a body on the property. Mrs Ceccoli then took the stand, and testified: "There are pieces of bodies laying around. Heads, arms, and other parts have fallen off bodies. My husband and I have been begging them to get all of the bodies out of there." "If they just take one casket now, they may not come back for months"

Today the flood destroyed area of the cemetery is an open field, left to commemorate those who had been buried there. A monument to them stands under a grove of trees next to the field.

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When The Money Was Laundered, And Even Ironed, In Williamsport

After flood waters receded in Williamsport, employees of the Williamsport National Bank had to clean, dry, and press more than $200,000 in water logged bills.

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When A Little League Team Played With The Pros, In Exeter

On July 11th, the Exeter Little League was just returning to their schedule, after the flood.

At the end of the scheduled game that night, Leroy Keyes and Harold Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Freddie Foster, a basketball player for the 76ers, walked onto the field.

The pros were part of the 103rd Engineer Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard, in town to help with flood clean up. They played baseball that night with the little league players.

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