In the history of Hersheypark, there are two particularly well known floods – in 1972 and 2011. While the 1972 flood was seemingly unprecedented, there were other significant floods in the history of the park which were forgotten by the time Hurricane Agnes decided to visit Hersheypark in June of 1972.
This list is split into major and minor floods. Major floods are ones which caused damage to the park, including the park having to close. Minor floods are ones which occurred but did not cause much in the way of any damage to the park.
Note: This list is incomplete. Official record keeping for the Swatara Creek near Hershey only began in 1975. Data from any time prior to 1975 is incomplete at best. Because there is not official record keeping for Spring Creek, the crests mentioned below are for the Swatara Creek near Hershey.
Notable floods
- July 23, 1908 – severe storms
- August 21, 1915 – severe storms
- July 22, 1945 – severe storms
- June 22, 1972 – Hurricane Agnes
- September 27, 1975 – Hurricane Eloise | Crest: 15.36 feet
- September 19, 2004 – Hurricane Ivan | Crest: 14.27 feet
- June 29, 2006 – Mid-Atlantic United States flood of 2006 | Crest: 16.12 feet
- September 7, 2011 – Tropical Storm Lee | Crest: 27.22 feet
- July 23, 2018 – severe storms | Crest: 17.08 feet
- September 2, 2021 – Hurricane Ida | Crest: 14.02 feet
Floods that occurred outside normal operating season
- March 19, 1936 – snow and ice melt
- January 25, 1979 – severe storms | Crest: 14.43 feet
- January 20, 1996 – Statewide flood of 1996 | Crest: 14.30 feet