The warnings of the Agawam Indians proved true in 1647, 1767, 1801, 1804, and 1818. Civil War-era dikes held back high water in the Agawam River in 1878, but heavy rain flooded the town again in 1927. Both heavy rains and a large snowmelt brought an even more massive flood in 1936, with 8,000 people were displaced in the town of 17,000. The area's bridges survived; the railroad bridge being weighed down by a fully loaded freight train intentionally parked across it. The New England Hurricane of 1938 flooded crops along Riverdale Road and severely damaged the Exposition grounds, causing the fair to close for the season. It also opened a hole in the dike at Mosley Avenue, which was repaired before the rain waters could once again flood the lower section of town. Yet another major flood struck in 1955, knocking out the town's drinking water facilities in Southwick and destroying Bear Hole Dam, Piper Reservoir, and Memorial Pool (all of which were rebuilt).