It can be forgiven, right? It was 50 years ago–satellite weather prediction was still in its infancy, nothing like the sophisticated systems we have in place today. Surely something like Hurricane Agnes, which at the time was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States and dumped more than 14 trillion gallons of water on Pennsylvania, would not repeat its damage were it to arrive today? We’re safer today aren’t we?
Alexander Monelli’s Agnes 50: Life After the Flood suggests that this may be a false sense of security. For starters, we know that climate change will bring more frequent and severe flooding events to Pennsylvania. But even beyond that, this retrospective on Agnes shows that so often the results of disasters depend on decision-making by people, both before and during an event. Join us for this retrospective discussion as we also consider how we can better prepare from a social, policy, and infrastructure perspective for future flooding events in Pennsylvania.
Following the film, a post-film discussion panel will expand on these topics, featuring:
- Lara Fowler, Interim Chief Sustainability Officer of Penn State and Interim Director, Sustainability Institute
- Alexander (Al) Monelli, Director, Agnes 50: Life After the Flood
- Teri Provost, Chief of the Community Services Division, SEDA-Council of Governments
(Screening in partnership with the Penn State Water Council)