New York State Board of Equalization and Assessment Hurricane Agnes Flood Maps

Arranged roughly by general geographic area mapped, then by type of map (Provisional or printed).

Flooding resulting from Hurricane Agnes in June 1972 caused real property damage in 26 Hudson Valley, Central, and Southern Tier counties of New York. The following year, the Legislature passed a law providing tax relief for affected property owners and localities.

Property owners applied to the State Board of Equalization and Assessment for tax abatements for damaged real property. As the supervising agency for assessments on taxable real property, the Board's responsibilities include coordinating assessments for use in distributing state aid and advising localities on real property tax problems. Upon receipt of an application for tax abatement for flood-damaged property, the Board inspected the property and determined the percentage of loss. Local assessors then calculated the actual tax abatement. The Board also determined the amount of additional state aid to be paid to municipalities and special districts to compensate for the tax loss (except for school districts, for which the amount was determined by the Commissioner of Education).

The State Board of Equalization and Assessment used these maps indicating flooded area as reference sources in their inspection of, and determination of tax abatement or state assistance for, flood-damaged areas.

The maps are sections of United States Geological Survey topographic quadrangle maps annotated to show the impact of the flooding. Aerial photography and field surveys were carried out immediately after the flooding, and the maps were then prepared by the U.S.G.S. in cooperation with New York State and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The maps show land contours, waterways, and a few man-made features such as certain buildings (e.g. schools, hospitals), roads, and railroads. Heavy lines are drawn in indicating flooded areas. Annotations on the maps indicate specific flooding problems such as: "water over railroad bridge"; "3' in restaurant"; "6'-8' deep at underpass"; "water over dike"; "water 6'-8' deep on Rte 17"; "road washout"; "bridge collapsed from erosion"; "approaches washed out on both sides"; and "5'-6' deep at school".

There are multiple versions of many of the maps. One version has the handwritten heading, "Provisional - Subject to Revision;" these occasionally include brief notes in the margins as well as on the maps. Another version has the printed heading, "Flood of June 1972" and the location; these lack the marginal notes and many of the map annotations but do highlight the location of gaging stations and note the flood elevation at each station.

The series also includes a map produced by the Chemung County Planning Board showing state, county, and town roads, county and town boundaries, and incorporated areas. Color coding in flooded areas indicates commercial, residential, industrial, agricultural, and public or semi-public areas. There are also two separate maps for the towns of Elmira and Big Flats (Chemung County) with flooded areas marked in red.

B0925Series B0925, Applications for State Assistance for Flood Damage (Hurricane Agnes, 1972), contains applications and related documentation for tax abatement for property damaged by Hurricane Agnes.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.