(WETM) – 50 years ago today, on June 23, 1972, the history of the Twin Tiers was permanently altered. Hurricane Agnes swept through the region, leaving destruction in its wake.

Anywhere from six to 12 inches of rain fell, following days of rainfall already. The full rivers burst, flowing over the banks and into the community.

The East Coast was ravaged by the floods. The damage cost more than $3 billion. 122 people died.

Take a step back through history with 18 News’ special coverage of the flood, with photos, testimonials and footage from the fateful weekend.

Watch 18 News’ special broadcast of the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 flood on air and in the player above at 5:30 p.m. on June 23.

Click through the slideshows below made possible by the work of local historical societies. Images in the first group of photos were provided by the Chemung County Historical Society. Photos show Elmira staples underwater, including Dunn Field and the Eldridge Park rollercoaster, as well as community efforts to rebuild and help each other through the tragedy of it all.

  • Dunn Field (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Millport on Buck Hill Rd. (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Flood Relief Route (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Panosians Parking (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • St Joe’s hospital operating room (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • FEMA Trailers (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Eldridge Park aerial shot (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Emergency generator (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • West on 2nd St. towards Main (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Water St east towards State Street (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Walnut Street Bridge Aerial shot (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Residential area (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Street Cleaning (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • St Joe’s Hospital Renovations (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • St Joe’s Hospital Reception desk (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • St Joe’s Hospital Archives (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Sign at West Water St and Sunnyside (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Residential clean-up (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Refugees at Southside High School (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • St. Joseph’s hospital aerial view (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Walnut Street Bridge aerial view (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Boardman Partridge (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library Clean-up Southside branch kids room (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up putting microfilm in barrels (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up of lower stacks (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up lower stack (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up loading barrels of microfilms (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up of barrels of damaged microfilm (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library Clean-up of auditorium (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library cleanup of card catalog cabinet (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Home for sale (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Franklin St and South Ave (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Fitch Bridge (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Evacuation to Arnot-Ogden Hospital (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Elmira Savings (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • East on East Church St (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Dyke behind Water St. (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Downtown aerial shot 2 (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Downtown aerial shot 1 (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Corning Bridges (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Clothing distribution at refugee center (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Clean up (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Chemung Canal Trust safe deposit vault (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Car Rescue (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Car in Yard (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Car in front of St Patrick’s School (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Cameo Shop (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • National Guard at Main St Bridge (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Mobile homes at HH Holding Point (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up of the southside branch (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up of southside branch (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean-up of southside branch (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Library clean up of southside branch (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Patient transfer to Arnot-Ogden (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • Police escort during the flood (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • National Guard downtown with Mayor Loll (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)
  • North Main Street flooded (Photo: Chemung County Historical Society)

The photos and captions below were provided by the Steuben County Historical Society and the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society. They are featured in the book “The 1972 Flood in New York’s Southern Tier”, written by the SCHS Director Kirk House. Copies are available on Amazon and at local libraries.

  • The afternoon before the flood, the Penn Central Railroad pulled 15 loaded coal gondolas onto its bridge over the Chemung River in Corning, hoping to anchor it down. 14 hours later, the bridge was destroyed, creating a dam that forced water over both banks into the city. Corning Glass Works is seen in the background, with the Glass Museum to the right. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Shown here, water rise quickly in Painted Post. Up river, Bath was largely saved berms bearing the limited access Southern Tier Expressway, acting as dikes for the county seat. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • On the right are the smokestack and shot tower from the Glass Works, and onthe left is an office tower for the Glass Works. THe main plant manager shut the place down at 2:30 a.m. and sent the night shift home, which turned out to be an excellent decision. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Al Hall’s Diner on Hamilton Street in Painted Post appears to float away on the water. (Photo; Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Waters rise and rush down Market and Cedar Streets in Corning, just below today’s Rockwell Museum. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • “Don’t be a litter bug” written on the roof of a home in the Houghton Plat. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • The old Baron Steuben Buliding in Centerway Square, with a parking garage taking the place of the Glass Works production facilities in the background. THe flood damaged the Centerway Bridge too much for heavy traffic, making it a pedestrian bridge. (Photo: Steuben County Historical Society)
  • Shown here, the First United Methodist Church on Cedar Street. “The Flat” in Corning—both the Northside and Market St.-Denison Pkwy. section of the southside, was flooded. “The Hill”, seen rising on the right, was spared the worst of the flood. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Either this station wagon on Bridge Street (near the Erie Station) was flooded before the owners realized, or they got caught in the flood and had to abandon it. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • The sign at Tammaro’s Best Buy Grocery reads “Welcome to Corning” on Baker Street. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Ripples and mini-rapids are seen in the water on Sycamore Street on Corning’s Northside. The water continued to flow treacherously. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society
  • Over 400 homes in the Corning area were demolished or floated off, including some that vanished altogether. This house in the Houghton Plat either came off its morrings, or the foundation on the left once held an entirely different home. (Phoot: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • This house slipped back and dropped down, but the wire garden border in the lower left corner survived. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • THe view near the old Centerway Motel, not far from Corning’s business and shopping district. A van is half-submerged in the background (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Emergency workers risked it all to save their neighbors. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • The forest comes to this home on River Road. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Baker Street in Corning, between the Post Creek and the Chemung River (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • “Water now, food Sunday” reads a sign at the Corning Hospital. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Suppliers across the Northeast provided goods to Corning. This truck is seen delivering to the hospital. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Helicopters and the miltary were a saving grace inthe Southern Tier and all areas affected by Agnes. Reserves and National Guard turned out across New York, with Navy helicopters arriving from as far away as Rhode Island. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • The Conhocton, Canisteo, and Tioga Rivers all rose when the Hurricane Agnes rains came. They have their confluence and form the Chemung where Corning meets Painted Post. In the early morning hours on June 23, 1972, all three tributaries crested at that point pretty much simultaneously/Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society
  • Upriver towns such as Addison, Bath, and Hornell suffered fromthe floods, as did the Keuka Lake communities. But Corning residents couldn’t get in, out, or around. The Northside was largely underwater. Even Northside neighborhood that weren’t flooded were still cut off from “The Hill” and the Southside (Photo: Steuben County Historical Society
  • As seen in this photograph, the approaches to the city were awash. For Steuben County, the worst suffering came in both the city and town of Corning, Erwin, and the villages of Riverside, Painted Post, and South Corning/Photo: Steuben County Historical Society
  • 18 people died—three-fourths of the deaths that occurred in New York. Corning was cut off from the rest of the world./Photo: CPPHS
  • The downtown shopping district of Painted Post suffered just as much as Corning’s Market Street. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • McDonald’s and the pancake house on the left are underwater, as well as the railroad. The crossing sign can lies just to the left of McDonald’s, under the utility wires. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Electricity, natural gas, sewage, telephones, and water were all cut off. The sign in this photo advertises 34-cent gasoline. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • Jones Pontiac on Centerway, near the Museum of Glass (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)
  • It’s time to rebuild. (Photo: Corning-Painted Post Historical Society)