WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — In the days after the Agnes flood, the area had many high-profile visitors including then-President Richard Nixon.
In our digitally remastered video recently discovered, here is a clip of the President’s visit to Wilkes-Barre in 1972.
Sometimes when something terrible happens in your life, your home is washed away, or something like that. You tend to think about your own problems. You lose sight of the bigger picture. You lose your spirit, you lose your hope. The most important think as far as Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, all these areas are concerned, is what you feel in your hearts about your future. And the future of your town and the future of your state and the future of your country. I’ve seen alot of devastation in my travels around the world. For example we have all heard of San Francisco, as being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Foreign diplomates they all want to go to San Francisco. The most beautiful city and yet it was only 60 years ago that San Francisco was almost totaly destroyed by an earthquake and a fire. Then they rebuilt it and they rebuilt it and it was more beautiful than ever and everyone goes to see that beautiful city.”
President Richard Milhous Nixon.
You can see the one-hour special Agnes at Fifty, a joint reporting project with Times Leader newspaper on Thursday, June 23 at 7:00 p.m. on WYOU. It will also air on WBRE on June 24 at 10:00 p.m., June 25 at noon, and June 26 at 11:00 a.m.
