LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — In June of 1972, Mike Stevens was in his 20s, working in the radio industry. He remembers the day the radio station evacuated from its Wilkes-Barre location and set up shop in Scranton due to Agnes.
"We started doing public service things like evacuation here, and you can get food over here, and you have the helicopter landing pad over there. We were able to do that as a public service for the community. That was the beginning of the Agnes flood story."
Just the beginning of what Mike would later realize was one of the biggest stories of his career.
"After your day's work is done, you don't comprehend the whole picture. You know very well the small part of it, where you were. But the rest of it? No, you don't really know. So to conceive that this flood was going to be as big as it was was almost impossible."
For months and months after the flood, Mike traveled the area for work, meeting people and telling their stories. He says he will never forget all of the tears shed in his interviews.
"All the things they loved, all of the pictures, all of the mementos of life, gone, gone."
As the weeks and months went on, Mike says he remembers when the weather started turning colder and the new problems that were created for people who still had no place to live.
"Agnes put fear into people. Real fear, and real sorrow into people, and heartache."
Mike was able to give those people an outlet through his storytelling. Hear more from Mike Stevens Thursday night during our special, Agnes: 50 Years Later, at 7:30 on WNEP-2. You can also stream it on WNEP.com, ROKU, or Fire TV.
See more Agnes-related stories on WNEP's Youtube page.