Luzerne County officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of nearly 200,000 people Wednesday. These residents are now safely home.
The Benton Volunteer Fire Company had seven crews pumping out basements Thursday night, and a total of 82 houses received assistance. The firemen thank local residents for being patient until all basements could be pumped. On Thursday, one crew was dispatched to Bloomsburg to help in that town. The local fire company participated in nine water-rescue efforts of either houses or automobiles. On Wednesday, ambulance 151 was turned into a paramedic unit for the area. Help was also sent to the upper Fishingcreek area as Station 20, Montoursville, Station 22, Eldridge Road and Station 380, Unityville, assisted locally. Water boat 30 out of Muncy and Hover 2 from Linden in Lycoming County assisted with water rescues locally.
There were lots of complaints in the area Friday about how long it took to go places. Nescopeck seems to be a major slow-down point this week.
A good thing about the Fourth of July falling in the middle of the week this year is that we can basically celebrate the holiday for an entire week. It will be a time for parades, picnics and pyrotechnics. Many in the area need something to celebrate after the trying times of this week. I am celebrating because everything in the basement is cleaned out and tonight I have hot water to take a much-needed shower. Volunteers were still cleaning out the three Church basements in town Friday night. The fire company had all the cellars cleaned out. One of the bad things that happened in town was the loss of much of the food in storage for the Neighborhood Food Bank. Many businesses have not reopened, restaurants like the Kozy Korner and the Classic Grill, for example. There was a gas shortage for a time, as fuel trucks struggled to get into town, and this morning the food shortage of certain commodities is a very real thing. And there is the continuing problem of transportation.
Mossville Road in Fairmount Township runs between Red Rock Corners and Patterson Grove with the area known as Mossville in the middle of the trip. Some readers might know the road as Dark Hollow Road. Ruth Frey shared these pictures.
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| These pictures come from the Patterson Grove side of Mossville Road and clearly show the fury of the No-Name Storm of June, 2006. |
Quote of the Day...
"Everybody knows West Nanticoke goes underwater. It's a submarine and who wants to buy a submarine?"
--Frank Matenus, whose home in West Nanticoke is "impossible" to sell because of frequent flooding
We don't like to toot our own horn, but we did receive two emails yesterday worth quoting. The first was from Irene Barna, who said "Thank you for the information you are posting in News from Back Home in Benton about the area flooding and status of some of the covered bridges. As Secretary of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, I received the link to your site from Dick Wilson of the New York Society by way of Tom Walzak of the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society. With this kind of network, a lot of covered bridgers are reading with rapt interest." The second email was from Baltimore written by Alexander D. Mitchell IV, who told us that "your site is being linked to by a variety of covered bridge and bridge history sites for your reports on the Twin Bridges and Josiah Hess Bridge. Thank you for being about the only free website from which we can get the news on these sad and historic events."
We noticed that Farmer Moofie lost all of his "early corn" to flood waters on the Flats around Stillwater.
At 2:12 PM Friday, it was reported that someone stole the "West Paden" sign that was hanging in a tree limb downstream from the Twin Bridges. That sign was not the property of the person who stole it. It should be returned to the Covered Bridge Association.
Karen Dussinger, Community Relations Coordinator for PennDOT, District 4, provided these detour routes for 118. Karen tells us that "Bridges are the issue here, not just holes in the road. These detours are UNOFFICIAL as they still need signage and need to be finally approved by people in the field. But if you absolutely need to get somewhere, this is what we recommend for now. IF you know other local roads, feel free to use them as the western–most detour is quite long. However, PennDOT always needs to provide official detours using state routes." These are PennDOT recommendations:
• Rte 4028 to Rte 29 for one segment.
• Take Mooretown Road (all the way to Route 29) or you can hang a right on Bronson road (dirt road) to Whitesell and come out just above Mountain Fresh
• Or take Grassy Pond Road to the Main Road of Sweet Valley but please note that the sides of the road are slowly disappearing (use caution and drive at a safe speed).
Go to the following links for news of the covered bridges...
For information about local covered bridges, go here.
For news of Bittenbender's Bridge in Luzerne County, go here.
For news of the demise of the West Paden Bridge, one of the two "Twin Bridges," go here.
For news of the repair efforts for the Josiah Hess Covered Bridge, go here.
Municipal officials estimate roughly 42 homes and two businesses in Luzerne County were destroyed by the June 28 flooding.
--Times Leader, July 8, 2006
The No-Name flood of June 28 was the second worst in the history of Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park where something like 300 people have been struggling to get the park open by Saturday on a limited basis. The area around Kiddy Land and all areas near the creek banks experienced water about five-feet deep. All food stands were damaged except for the Fudge Shoppe and the International Food Court. The water in the Crystal Pool looks like the water we pumped from our basement. Go here for pictures of flood damage at Knoebel's Grove. Be patient, it may take a little while to open.
Go to the following link for additional pictures of Columbia County...
Route 487 north of Orangeville, looking toward Forks in Fishingcreek valley. Hess Market is in the lower right corner. The name "Creekside Restaurant" takes on a new name. The photographer of this picture is not known. It was sent by a reader.
The Benton Volunteer Fire Company had seven crews pumping out basements Thursday night, and a total of 82 houses received assistance. The firemen thank local residents for being patient until all basements could be pumped. On Thursday, one crew was dispatched to Bloomsburg to help in that town. The local fire company participated in nine water-rescue efforts of either houses or automobiles. On Wednesday, ambulance 151 was turned into a paramedic unit for the area. Help was also sent to the upper Fishingcreek area as Station 20, Montoursville, Station 22, Eldridge Road and Station 380, Unityville, assisted locally. Water boat 30 out of Muncy and Hover 2 from Linden in Lycoming County assisted with water rescues locally.
There were lots of complaints in the area Friday about how long it took to go places. Nescopeck seems to be a major slow-down point this week.
A good thing about the Fourth of July falling in the middle of the week in 2006 is that we basically celebrated the holiday for an entire week. It will be a time for parades, picnics and pyrotechnics. Many in the area need something to celebrate after the trying times of this week. I celebrated because everything in the basement was cleaned out and I finally had hot water to take a much-needed shower. Volunteers were still cleaning out the three Church basements in town Friday night. The fire company had all the cellars cleaned out. One of the bad things that happened in town was the loss of much of the food in storage for the Neighborhood Food Bank. Many businesses have not reopened, restaurants like the Kozy Korner and the Classic Grill, for example. There was a gas shortage for a time, as fuel trucks struggled to get into town, and this morning the food shortage of certain commodities is a very real thing. And there is the continuing problem of transportation.
Mossville Road in Fairmount Township runs between Red Rock Corners and Patterson Grove with the area known as Mossville in the middle of the trip. Some readers might know the road as Dark Hollow Road. Ruth Frey shared these pictures.
|
|
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| These pictures come from the Patterson Grove side of Mossville Road and clearly show the fury of the No-Name Storm of June, 2006. |
Quote of the Day...
"Everybody knows West Nanticoke goes underwater. It's a submarine and who wants to buy a submarine?"
--Frank Matenus, whose home in West Nanticoke is "impossible" to sell because of frequent flooding
We don't like to toot our own horn, but we did receive two emails yesterday worth quoting. The first was from Irene Barna, who said "Thank you for the information you are posting in News from Back Home in Benton about the area flooding and status of some of the covered bridges. As Secretary of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, I received the link to your site from Dick Wilson of the New York Society by way of Tom Walzak of the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society. With this kind of network, a lot of covered bridgers are reading with rapt interest." The second email was from Baltimore written by Alexander D. Mitchell IV, who told us that "your site is being linked to by a variety of covered bridge and bridge history sites for your reports on the Twin Bridges and Josiah Hess Bridge. Thank you for being about the only free website from which we can get the news on these sad and historic events."
The July 3 Press Enterprise reported that Ricketts Glen's Falls Trail has been closed indefinitely after severe flood damage.
Less than a week after what many described as the worst flooding in their memory, several local restaurants were not open and ready for business. Countless numbers of people still had not completely cleared away the debris and grime associated with a serious flood. Many roads were impassable, and others have serious underpining problems. We noticed "sink holes" in the macadam highway at several locations between Benton and Camp Hill Sunday. Our area was spared any deaths following at least 20 deaths in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and Virginia.
In the July 19, 2006, Press Enterprise, the newspaper said that local officials estimated that 48 homes and businesses were destroyed. The statistics used by the paper were that 156 structures had "major damage," meaning extensive foundation damage, and three or more feet of water in the first floor. An estamiated 436 structures had "minor damage," meaning five or more feet of water in a basement or two inches to three feet of water in the first floor. An additional 236 dwellings wre "affected," meaning less than five feet of water in a basement or less than two inches of water in the first floor.
The following article is presented as written. As you continue reading it, it becomes obvious that the facts presented were not accurate as relates to the breaking of the splash dam #2 at Mountain Springs Lake. Nevertheless, it is presented as written.
The former ice dam now owned by the Fish and Boat Commission at Mountain Springs along Bowman’s Creek in Sullivan County burst during Wednesday's flood. No structures were directly in its flood path for about five miles downstream. The stream flows northeast eventually arriving in Noxen where roads and bridges suffered a toll. Bowman's Creek begins in Luzerne County passing through Wayne County and the village of Noxen. The small village is about 29 miles from Back Home in Benton, PA via Routes 118 and Route 29.
The normally small and lazy creek became a massive overflow from the mountains. When the deluge arrived in Noxen, residents described the deafening noise as an "over all roar, occasionally punctuated with even louder cracking of trees and boulders smashing into the bridge." The wait was maddening. The townspeople feared the dam would burst and for seemingly an endless amount of time people who lived along Stull Road, the lower end of the old railroad grade that parallels the creek from Mountain Springs Lake to Noxen, were in a high state of anxiety.
Stull Road is now washed out in many places along the creek. The road leading into town was frequently washed out with five and six "layers of asphalt in pieces some 6 feet by 15 feet scattered like tin foil." Huge ditches on both sides of the remaining pavement are now 4 to 6 feet deep. Two pick-up trucks using the road during the storm and two more pick ups closer to Noxen dropped into ditches as far as their windshields. The Noxen area, residents say, made out much worse than during Hurricane Agnes.
A picture of the Noxen bridge around 7 AM, about six hours after maximum flow. The fire company reported that during the maximum flow entire trees were being tossed completely over the bridge. The car in background washed there by the first big wash over.
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Some of the debris left on the bridge. Debris is only in the middle section because during the maximum flow the volume of water washed it around the bridge. |
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Wednesday afternoon after clearing the bridge. Scene shows the Main street side. The debris apparently deposited when flow started to ebb. |
The erosion of the asphalt and base material occurred when the bridge was severely jammed with debris during maximum flow and it had to divert around. The trailers and homes on the side road are covered with branches and logs. Trailers washed off their bases but did not upset. Vehicles are covered with mud and sticks and deep erosion is evident on both sides of the pavement.
The first time I realized that I had made a mistake about the facts came when Chris Hoyt called, saying he thought the story was fishy. I immediately called Mary Lou Buckalew who confirmed that I had reported it correctly, and she should know: she was born in Wyoming County at Mountain Springs Lake and knew everything there is to know about Splash Dam #2 and Bowman Creek.
Late Tuesday night prior to the fury of the No-Name Storm of June 28, word came from the state Department of Environmental Protection that eight miles up Bowman Creek from Noxen the dam at Mountain Spring Lake had either broken or was in danger of breaking. People in its path were to evacuate immediately, and many did. Lives were probably saved because people moved immediately to higher ground.
When the residents of that valley were able to return to their homes, they found bridges gone, collapsed or unsafe; much of the single road through the valley torn away and cars, vans and mobile homes tossed like pieces of driftwood. There seemed little likelihood that the dam had not, in fact, broken. Noxen was in shambles.
The dam is owned by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and when they looked at the dam discovered that dam was intact, just as Chris Hoyt had told us by phone when he inspected it. In fact, water had not even gone over the top of the earthen bank surrounding the dam. Still, to the people of Noxen who witnessed it, a surge of water did hit the town and caused massive devastation.
Although there is absolutely nothing humorous in what happened during that terrible storm, I will have to relate a personal story that happened about eight years ago as my future bride and I drove down the railroad grade from Mountain Springs lake to Noxen, which, prior to last Wednesday, was one of the most beautiful drives in our part of the state. After the long ride down the mountain, the road levels out and runs parallel with and close to the stream. Huge rocks and wonderful swimming holes line the stream and on that hot August day it seemed like a natural thing to do to stop and poke our toes in the water and talk for a while. I really didn't know where the best swimming hole was, so when I spotted a car parked by the road I thought whoever is here--so many miles from other human beings--must know that good swimming was nearby. We stopped, then walked to the creek. We actually didn't see anyone at the swimming hole, but we did come across two piles of clothes, one neatly stacked and one piled askew. Sizing up the contents of the two piles of clothing, it didn't take rocket science to realize that we needed to get back in the car and leave these two people alone in their natural swimming hole.
Picture courtesy of Tom Austin
Ed Laubach and Tom Austin took this picture at Mountain Spring Lake on July 7, 2006. The dam is as it has been for years but Tom tells us that "the road is bad as a result of all the water during the past few weeks. We parked at Beech Lake and walked the last mile to Mt. Spring Lake. The bridge is out at Wolfe Run just before you get to the lake. "
