Owego Flood Stories Project

Owego is a village in the southern tier of New York. It lies in a historic flood plain that has experienced dozens of flooding events over the past hundred years or so. In 2006 and 2011, there were significant floods. The flood of 2011 in particular was a once in 500 year event that left roughly 90 percent of the buildings in the village flooded or damaged. Through interviews with community members and partnership with a taskforce from the village, our capstone group identified patterns of community engagement in the relief efforts as well as efficacy and shortcomings of the federal, state and local responses.