A lone pedestrian passes through Continental Square in downtown York City on Monday night, where the streets were nearly empty as Sandy brought rain and high winds. (Bil Bowden)

Hurricane Sandy may have ripped coastal piers from their pylons, shut down New York City transportation and reached its windy arms as far west as Chicago.

But, in York City, Sandy did little to impress.

"It didn't seem as bad as what everybody was hyping it," Jim Gross, the city's public works director, said Tuesday morning. "I think, as it came inland, it just didn't really do what people thought it was going to do."

Forty years ago, the Codorus Creek swelled to the top of its banks as Hurricane Agnes pounded the city and surrounding areas. The resulting flood swallowed the Market, Princess, Philadelphia and King street bridges, not stopping until it reached Newberry Street to the west.

None of that happened Monday. Despite its widely publicized potential as a record-setting storm, Sandy was no Agnes.

Even the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee caused more flooding problems last year, Gross said.

"We made out extremely well," he said.

Basics: Public works employees worked long hours to keep the city's inlets clear and fix malfunctioning traffic signals.

"We just did basic stuff - kept an eye on the creek," said David Rudolph, superintendent of the city's electrical bureau and building maintenance department. "From my view, it didn't look like it was as high as last year."

The city's fire department was not called to any fires or water rescues. Even flooded basements were a rarity Monday, said acting fire Chief David Michaels.

Residents seemed to have sump pumps ready, perhaps having learned lessons from flooding last year, Michaels said.

"They knew to be prepared this time," he said.

Even the owners of century-old homes on South Pine Street fared well. Kimberly Bolt, who lives there, credited her husband with sparing the neighborhood its usual storm-related headaches.

William Bolt went outside armed with a rake several times at the height of the storm to clear storm drains of collecting leaves, Kimberly Bolt said. The method worked.

"It's so silly. It's such a simple thing. If it backs up at the storm drains, it all backs up into our basements. That could have really potentially put all of us underwater," she said.

- Erin James may also be reached at ejames@yorkdispatch.com.