HONESDALE, PA — Almost 60 years to the day, historian Jane Varcoe brought the story of the region’s deadly flooding of 1955 before the Wayne County Commissioners.

Varcoe said she has been making a round of presentations after a friend, Dr. Ken Phillips of Waymart, gave her his collection of the Scranton Times and the Scranton Tribune’s accounts of the flooding. “I thought people should have a chance to see them,” she said.

August of 1955 had been hot and dry. A week earlier, Hurricane Connie had brought eight inches of rain to the drought-stricken area. But it was the remains of Hurricane Diane, which followed, that created the flood of record in the Delaware River Valley. On August 18 to 20, Diane produced some 16 to 17 inches of additional rainfall in eastern PA, largely in the Poconos and along the Delaware River.

The state National Guard was activated and some 1,600 camp kids were evacuated by helicopters. She recounted the worst single disaster at Camp Davis on Brodhead Creek, where 37 died. Rushing waters demolished about 150 road and rail bridges and breached or destroyed 30 dams. Throughout Pennsylvania, the disaster killed 101 people and caused an estimated $70 million 1955-dollars in damage locally.

“The rain was unbelievable, over 17 inches in three days,” she said. Phones and electric were out. Places with sewage systems found them backed up into water supplies, as did private homes with wells. Varcoe said there was widespread concern about typhoid infection.

Varcoe said an Erie Railroad repair crew was nearby as the waters rose and watched helplessly as the lights blinked out amid the diminishing screams of those at the doomed camp.

She said her older brother was among high school boys enlisted to help search the debris for people missing in Newfoundland, where 10 had died in the waters of Wallenpaupack Creek.

Chief clerk Vicky Botjer recalled former Commissioner Don Olsommer’s story of spending a night in a tree during the flooding.

Commissioners Chair Brian Smith said the story highlights the things that have since been done and are continuing to be done to respond to disasters.

Commissioner Wendell Kay called her presentation an eye-opener. “It’s why we do planning and make preparations for natural events.”

Varcoe said she planned to contribute the newspaper accounts to the Wayne County Historical Society.