Spring is late this year. Usually in March and early April comes flooding around Monroe County. Both Black and Oatka Creeks on the west side of Monroe County regularly go over their banks. On the east side of Monroe County is Irondequoit Creek which every few years floods the area around Panorama Plaza in Penfield, That is where Allen’s Creek flows into Irondequoit Creek. Plus the plaza sits at the bottom of a valley.

At one time the Genesee River would overflow the banks into downtown Rochester. The picture on the right shows one of the worse floods ever recorded; that of 1865 (click for a larger view). There is small dam on the river that is south of Court Street in downtown. Still, the river would overflow every few years into downtown causing varying amounts of damage. That was to finally end in 1952 when the Mt. Morris dam in Letchworth Park (Wyoming Co.) was completed in 1952. That would add control to the amount of water that comes down the river toward Rochester. In June 1972, Hurricane Agnes took a turn inland and hit the Pennsylvania – New York border hard. There was so much rain in a short period that water came to within about 10 feet of the top of Mount Morris Dam. The Dam did its job and flooding was minimal in Rochester.

For more flooding pictures, go to the picture pages of the Monroe Co. GenWeb .