STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— The tragedy in Texas serves as a powerful reminder of what mother nature is capable of and for one local community, the story brings back terrible memories.
28/22's Avery Nape met with a member of that community Thursday afternoon to find out why the disaster in the southwest hit home for them.
The parallels drawn between last week's flood in Texas and a 1955 flood in Monroe County, are startling.
"It was like Deja Vu all over again," recalled Craig Schaffer, Stroudsburg.
What to know about the surge in data centers across NEPA
This was Craig Schaffer's reaction to the news of the Texas flood that so far, has claimed the lives of around 120 people.
Among those, 27 children and counselors from the Christian summer camp.
It brings back memories of a major flood in august of 1955 in Stroudsburg that claimed roughly 70 lives, 37 of which were from Davis Cabins, a Christian camp just five minutes east of the borough.
"They had their service, and the kids went out and they went back to these little cabin things. It was probably about as big as this room, and they went in there and the water came. They didn't know it," remembered Schaffer.
Schaffer was only four-years-old at the time, but says he remembers the flood vividly.
Bridges, gone. Streets, houses, and driveways filled with rubble, mud, and water.
Nape asked, "When you heard about what happened in Texas, did you immediately draw the comparison?"
"Immediately. Immediately. Immediately. And I wasn't the only one," emphasized Schaffer.
Immediately following the news, he says people took to community Facebook groups drawing comparisons between the two events.
Despite his young age, Schaffer tells me the memories from that time never left, especially the fear.
"I remember my aunt coming home, and I remember my grandmother and my aunt just crying," recalled Schaffer.
He says the destruction in the area was indescribable, but that the cleanup and rebuilding only took a couple months.
Now, he just hopes the same can be said for those impacted in Texas.
Schaffer says when the flood hit, he was living just a block away with his grandparents. Their house was fine.
He also added, while he is confident those communities in Texas will recover, he worries for the children who had to see, hear, and experience such tragedy and loss.
