As your news feed was blowing up with heart-breaking stories from the Texas flooding, and local tv news was running non-stop flood-alerts in Monroe County, did a shiver run down your spine?
Consider that a warning! The Brodhead watershed is no stranger to floodwaters — August 2025 marks 70 years since the devastating flood of 1955.
That was the year when back-to-back hurricanes Connie and Diane barreled in after months of hot, dry weather.
In a week, more than 21 inches of rain scoured over hard-baked-then-saturated ground, overwhelming the Brodhead.
Witnesses reported a 30-foot high wave of water engulfing a summer cottage colony in the watershed. Dozens of people were swept away.
Most were children.
It was, and remains, the worst flood ever in the Poconos, taking the lives of more than 100 people.
Hundreds of bridges, dams, railroad tracks and roads were impassable or demolished, their crashing debris adding to the downstream death and destruction.
The Army Corps of Engineers eventually dredged and straightened the Brodhead Creek, in the misguided belief that would prevent future flood disasters.
You can see the straight stretch as you travel the bridge on Fifth Street toward Stroudsburg, over the creek.
Time passes. People forget. And weather forecasting has improved by light-years since 1955. Yet disasters still happen.
Emergency alerts are available. CodeRed Mobile Alert, for instance, allows you to get push notifications right to the home screen of your phone in an emergency-- pinpointed to your physical address.
Click Here for more information.
Perhaps consider filling a go-bag with essentials you, your family and pets would need if you had to leave home suddenly.
And next time you take a walk along the creek in Stroud Township’s Brodhead Greenway, take a moment to remember — you are walking in the path of the Flood of 1955. Now that can give you the shivers.
For more information …
A fascinating display about the Flood of 1955 is located at Brodhead Creek Heritage Center, 1539 Cherry Lane Road, East Stroudsburg, PA.
Once slated for development, Stroud Township’s Brodhead Greenway includes parks, walking trails, pavilions, and fields is open to the public dawn to dusk.
Find out more about local public safety in general at Monroe County’s Public Safety Day on September 27.
Click Here for a Youtube video of the 1955 Flood.
Visit the Protecting Clean Water Together webpage for more articles in this series.
The Brodhead Watershed Association protects water quality and quantity throughout our area. Get involved! Become a member!
Related Article:
-- Brodhead Watershed Association: Water At Risk - Protecting The Heartland Of Woods And Water In Monroe County [PaEN][Posted: August 11, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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