Article by:The Daily Review
water damage cleanup, water damage removal, basement water removal
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water damage cleanup, water damage removal, basement water removal
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DUSHORE - Workers were cleaning up debris Wednesday following Tuesday night's flash flood in Dushore, which damaged many businesses and homes, destroyed cars, and damaged the Sullivan County Public Library.
"There was extensive damage to 20 to 25 homes," said Dushore Fire Chief Scott Hope. "Some were in Cherry Township, but primarily they were in the downtown of Dushore, which got hit the worst."
There were numerous businesses in Dushore that were damaged, many of which did not open for business on Wednesday, he said.
"They all had one issue or another," due to the flooding, such as furnaces and hot water heaters damaged, Hope said.
"It was a perfect storm," with the ground saturated from the rains over the past week and a half, Hope continued. So when it rained heavily Tuesday night, the water had nowhere to go and the creeks that pass through Dushore "rose unbelievably fast," the fire chief said.
Logs, trees and other debris became stuck under the bridge that carries U.S. Route 220 over the Little Loyalsock Creek in Dushore, causing the water to rise and flow over Route 220, he said.
Christine Weaver, who owns the Whistle Stop Restaurant on Main Street in Dushore, said she saw a tree become lodged under the bridge, which she said caused water to flow over the roadway and into other areas of the borough. "That's what diverted the water" into the areas of the town located away from the creek, she said.
Hope said the heavy rain started around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, and 911 calls due to flooding started coming in around 15 minutes later.
Dushore Borough, Cherry Township and Sullivan County will all be declared disaster areas due to the damage from the flash flooding, said Naomi English, chief county clerk for Sullivan County.
Chief Hope said he believed it will be FEMA or PEMA that will declare those locations disaster areas.
Lew Hope, second assistant captain of the Dushore Fire Company's ambulance service, said there were no injuries that he knew of due to the flooding.
Lew Hope said there were two cars that floated down Center Street in Dushore during the storm.
Mike Lonsdale and his fiancee, Justine Stewart, both of 212 Center St. in Dushore, said they owned the Saturn cars that floated down Center Street.
Lonsdale said he was woken up by neighbors who told them they needed to move their cars.
"When I woke up, the water was already 1 1/2 feet high," he said.
Lonsdale said he was able to move a Jeep he owns to higher ground but said he and Stewart were not able to save the Saturns, as the water had already reached the level of the hoods of the vehicles.
They said they watched from their front porch as the vehicles floated down Center Street.
"It was the worst feeling I think I've ever had," said Stewart. "I felt helpless."
One of the vehicles became lodged against a stop sign at the corner of Center and Julia streets, they said.
Richard Sevenski, 59, of Dushore said the Little Loyalsock Creek was higher than it had been during any point in his lifetime.
He said a snowmobile that was in a garage behind the Dushore Hotel, which he owns, floated out of the garage and became lodged in the branches of a tree about 50 feet away on the bank of the Little Loyalsock Creek.
Fire Chief Scott Hope said the water rose two feet inside the Dushore fire hall.
The fire company was able to move all of the company's trucks and ambulances to higher ground, so that they were not damaged, he said.
However, some of the equipment inside the fire hall was destroyed, including oxygen tanks, three pumps used to pump out basements, as well as a number of unused spill kits that would be used to clean up spills of hazardous materials, he said.
Wayne Miller, whose mother owns Miller's Hardware on German Street in Dushore, said the water level reached 10 inches in the front of the store and was at a higher level in the rear of the store.
The business' warehouse and storage building for lumber were also flooded, he said.
He said that roughly one-third of the business' inventory was damaged or destroyed. He said the business does not have insurance on the inventory.
At the Sullivan County Public Library, which is located on Center Street, wet carpet had to be removed on Wednesday, said Carol Roinick, director of the library.
The library's circulation computers were also damaged, as their towers were located on the floor of the library, she said. There was also some wall damage in the interior of the building, she said.
Books in the stacks were not damaged, although there were books on the floor of her office that were damaged, she said. The public access computers in the library were not damaged, she said.
The library is closed until further notice.
She said she hoped it would reopen soon, but said it would probably be over a week before it could reopen.
People who have borrowed materials from the library should keep them at home "until the library dries out," which could take seven to 10 days, she said. The return slot for books became wet during the flood, she said. No fines will be issued to patrons who keep the books at home while they wait for the library to start accepting books again.
Weaver said she was going to install sandbags on the inside of the Whistle Stop Restaurant to protect the eatery from the rain that was forecast for Wednesday night.
Boil Water Advisory
Due to a water main break, a boil water advisory is in effect for the customers of the Dushore Water Authority, the secretary/treasurer of Dushore Borough said Wednesday afternoon.
The advisory will be in effect until further notice, said Ellen Chase, secretary/treasurer of Dushore Borough.
Residents should boil their water "before drinking it, before cooking, or (using it for) anything," Chase said.
Those affected by the boil water advisory include "most everyone" in Dushore Borough as well as a small number of residents in Cherry Township, she said.
The water main break caused residents in the Thompson Avenue area to be without water, she said; the main is currently being repaired.
