Thanks to Wellsville High School seniors in Madonna Figura
Simons' English class there is a new website where the interested can go and
find out information they never knew about the flood that struck Wellsville and
the Southern Tier and 11 other states, in late June 1972. On the website:
https://sites.google.com/wlsv.org/flood/home there are interviews with locals
who lived through the event along with statistics and then and now photos of
areas ravaged by flood waters. Many of those interviewed talked about their
personal experiences and how their homes and families were impacted while
others recalled the attempt to stop the new wing of Jones Memorial Hospital
from collapsing into the river and how it felt to be inside the building. Four
students, Eric Morehouse, Alex Good, and Connor and Griffin Majewski built the
web site. Most of it was ready on the same day. Their collaboration was the
kind of work that we're told employers expect," Figura Simons said.
"More than anything, this project has sparked
conversations between students and older generations providing information that
would be lost in the dry dates-and-places data of historical accounts. We are
so grateful that community members came in to be interviewed about their
experiences, and we hope that people who endured the flooding will be prompted
to share their stories. Among those who spoke with the students are Al Mosher,
Don Comstock, Donald Dahlgren, Linda Hurd, Calvin Morrison, Connie Brandes,
Kathryn Ross, Steve Pease and Rob LaForge, Vicki Middaugh and Dwight Allen.
