Disasters have struck our region since time immemorial. The Sullivan invasion (during the Revolutionary War) may be the first one about which we have detailed information.
*We are now in the bicentennial of a quiet catastrophe that brutalized Europe and North America – the Year Without a Summer. Snow feel every month of 1816, and frost formed very month. Tuscarora Creek had half an inch of ice in May, and a quarter inch in September. Crops failed, and livestock died.
*This is all believed to have resulted from the gigantic eruption of Mount Tambora in the East Indies, along with several other major eruptions and a low sun cycle. Steuben County was only 20 years old, so this was till largely frontier back then.
*Because of the smaller numbers involved, and because of the limited collateral damage, we don’t usually think of highway wrecks in terms of disasters. But several major crashes stand out.
*The Cady Crash took place August 23, 1936. Nine members of the Cady family were coming back from Woodhull when Forrest Cady, driving a 1935 coach in the rain, missed a curve at Jasper Five Corners, crossed a ditch, sideswiped a maple tree, then hit another maple head-on. Six of the nine occupants were killed, and one of them was only a few days from giving birth, meaning the loss of the unborn child as well. The six dead were buried side-by-side in Troupsburg Cemetry.
*The Avoca Bus Crash, December 14, 1943, I suppose was our county’s biggest highway toll. A busload of workers were heading from Avoca to their defense jobs at Ingersoll-Rand when the bus was sideswiped by an oncoming tractor-trailer at about 5:30 AM — still pretty dark in December. The bus was thrown over onto its right side, and then caught fire. Eleven men, including the driver, were killed. In year 2000 a monument was erected in Avoca.
*The Benton Amish Crash, July 19, 2012, actually took place in Yates County, but the victims were all from Jasper and Woodhull. A driver attempted to pass a slow-moving tractor on Pre-Emption Road in Benton. He struck an oncoming van carrying Amish farm folks who were on a tour to study agricultural techniques. This crash spun the van into the path of the tractor, which crushed it. Six people were killed and eight injured. The dead included a husband and wife who left 12 children ranging in age from 9 months to 18 years.
*Naturally this created a crisis not just for the families but for the Amish community and for the larger community as well. “English” neighbors provided transportation to and back from Strong Hospital, pitched in with farm work, helped to shield their neighbors from the morbidly curious.
*Floods have a long history in our region. One study, running from 1784 to January 1999, lists 84 significant floods, including the Ice Flood, the Big Flood, the Great Inundation, and several Pumpkin Floods.
*Probably the two worst, both within living memory, were the 1935 flood (44 dead) and the 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood (19 dead in Steuben County). They had eerily similar footprints and similar dates (late June, early July), and both sprang up in the early morning hours.
*They clobbered Corning, Bath, Elmira, Hornell, Hammondsport, Ithaca, Wellsville, Rochester, Owego, Binghamton – everything. It would take years of work and millions in treasure to recover.
*I’ll be speaking on these and other regional disasters (including fires, epidemics, and train wrecks) at the next Steuben County Historical Society presentation, 4 PM Friday September 9 at Bath Fire Hall. The event is free and open to the public, and we’ll also have copies of my book, “The 1972 Flood in New York’s Southern Tier,” for sale. Hope to see you!