DALLAS — One pot of soup is the only possession Bryan Glahn’s parental grandparents fled Kingston with before the Susquehanna River flooded the Wyoming Valley in June 1972.
The family stories combined with research at the Luzerne County Historical Society are woven together in the Dallas resident’s newest book titled “Hurricane Agnes in the Wyoming Valley” and will be presented at 6 p.m. March 29 at the Luzerne Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre.
“Many people say that they can take my name out of the stories and put theirs in,” Glahn said, noting so many people share a similar story of that time in local history.
A Wyoming Valley West graduate, Glahn grew up in Kingston listening to the stories of Hurricane Agnes and the 1972 flood from his parents and grandparents.
His imagination was captured by how nearly seven days of rain from Hurricane Agnes caused the Susquehanna River to flood into Wyoming Valley, creating devastation to thousands of homes and businesses.
The natural disaster became embedded in the minds of those who lived through it and is passed down to younger generations.
“My dad has hundreds of pictures of the flood,” Glahn said. “I basically wrote the book as my dad talked.”
Glahn’s compilation of Hurricane Agnes contains humorous accounts such as the story behind the pot of soup that are laced with the urgency of the emergency.
“My grandfather (Sheldon Glahn Sr.) was a local director of the Red Cross,” Glahn, 39, said. “He was told ‘if you didn’t get water in 1936, then you won’t get it in 1972,’” referring to an earlier flood in Wyoming Valley.
Glahn’s grandmother Ruth believed the message and continued with daily life, including cooking soup for dinner on June 23, 1972.
When Sheldon came home, he told Ruth if they didn’t leave their home then, they would have to leave by boat, Glahn said. Ruth grabbed the pot of soup, and they left.
Photos of the destruction of the river levee at the Forty Fort Cemetery lead to a story from Glahn’s father Sheldon Glahn Jr.
“My dad was at the Forty Fort Cemetery with a friend taking pictures of caskets floating in the flood waters,” Glahn said. “One casket hit a tree and popped open, and a corpse came out. His friend immediately stopped taking photos.”
Glahn’s maternal grandfather James Stinson boasts as “probably being the last person to cross the Pierce Street Bridge,” he said.
“He is a War World II veteran,” Glahn said, adding when he crossed the bridge a police officer yelled at him and he yelled back that he would cross the bridge again.”
Glahn’s book, published by Arcadia Publishing, has been well received.
“I am surprised how many sold,” he said.
“Hurricane Agnes in the Wyoming Valley” will be for sale for $20 at the lecture.
Profits from the book’s sales on March 29 will be donated to the Luzerne County Historical Society, Glahn said.
