The federal government responded quickly in passing relief appropriation bills for the areas around the country affected by Hurricane Agnes. Over $3 billion in emergency funding was passed, which was reported as being twice as much money as the five largest previous disasters had been granted.
When Hurricane Agnes hit, flood insurance was extremely rare in New York. Of a reported $400 million in damages, only $5 million was covered by insurance. A few years after Hurricane Agnes, Congress made flood insurance mandatory for anyone using federally regulated mortgages living in designated flood zones.
With a lack of insurance payouts, most businesses and homes were rebuilt using low interest loans, grants, or other forms of emergency government relief. The Small Business Administration's Disaster Loan Program, created in 1953, offered loans to businesses and homeowners. Part of the loans would be forgiven after sufficient consistent payments.
Thousands of New Yorkers relied on HUD trailers for the next year or two as they rebuilt their homes. The Office of Emergency Preparedness created a "mini-repair" program from the Army Corps of Engineers to have engineers check homes for rehabilitation. For families whose homes needed just a fixed roof, repaired doors, working water, working electricity, and working gas service, this "mini-repair" program offered an alternative to HUD trailers.
8-Foot Dance Partner Missing, Gets Loan. Courtesy of Lois Crandell over Facebook.
The Small Business Administration helped all kinds of business owners get back on their feet.
Warning Issued to all Flood Victims. The Chronicle Express (Penn Yan), July 13, 1972. Courtesy of Newspaperarchive.com.
This article in Yates County came a few weeks after the flooding, warning residents of scam artists.
By the time the basement’s full, it’s too late for insurance! Dundee Observer (Dundee, NY), August 14, 1975. Courtesy of the Yates County History Center and NYS Historic Newspapers.
Local municipalities, like the Town of Barrington in Yates County, worked to convince homeowners to buy flood insurance in case of future disasters.
Aerial photograph of the Tioga-Hammond Lakes Project. Courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The Tioga-Hammond Dams and Lakes project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of July 1958 but funding ran short. It was not until Hurricane Agnes that the project was picked up again. The project, which consists of a dam on Tioga River and another on Crooked Creek, was constructed in 1978. This reduces the flood heights on the Chemung River at Corning and Elmira, and lowers the risk for another flood like Agnes.
The same servicemen who fought Hurricane Agnes' flood damage... are ready to help you! The Batavia Daily News (Batavia, NY), May 8, 1973. Courtesy of Old Fulton New York Post Cards.
This 1973 advertisement in Batavia's local newspaper touts the hard work by Iroquois Gas workers after the floods in 1972.