Post-Flood: The Sights, the Smells, the Sounds.

 
During the summer of 1972, shortly after the floodwaters from Agnes receded, I spent every day as follows:

• Get up, have breakfast, grab shovel, walk from the Mayflower section of Wilkes-Barre to the Gateway Shopping Center in Kingston, former site of the "Million Dollar Dump" ( from the flood of 1936 ).
• Spend the entire day pitching flood-damaged debris out onto the curb working for Herb and Jack ( both fondly remembered as professional gentlemen ) of  HurJax Photo.
• Stop by a home on Loveland Avenue and help a former neighbor clean out the basement of his home.
• Walk back through Public Square, grab some free food and water being supplied by the American Red Cross and others.
• Get home - Run, work out...then crash and burn until the alarm went off the next morning.

I did this every day - 7 days a week - until the two-a-day football practices @ GAR High School began in August.

+ + +

    
I remember the sights, smells and sounds of the flood-devastated Wyoming Valley as if it was yesterday.

• The huge, dead carp and countless other species of fish...bloated & baking in the sun.
• Overturned and mud-covered cars...everywhere.
• The never-ending carpet of dead, crunchy bugs underfoot after the massive spraying of who-knows-what by planes flying overhead.
• The mud...the mud...the mud.
• The gut-wrenching odor of a pail of diapers that had been underwater, in a closet in a basement for over two weeks, before I was able to pitch the rest of the piles of debris to get to them.
• The absolutely heart-breaking sound of a woman sobbing hysterically as we had to destroy her father's water-logged and unsalvageable Steinway piano.

That sound will never be erased from my memory.
 
NEVER.
  
The media free-for-all is only just beginning, and anticipating all the wannabe "experts" that will be popping out of the woodwork for their 15 minutes of fame over the days, weeks and months ahead,  I think this blogger will stand aside and leave the coverage of the aftermath to others.

You see - I've "been there, done that" before many of today's "experts" were even born.

Where the rippling Susquehanna gently, slowly winds its way,

stands our dear old Alma Mater...stands forever and for aye.

Loyal sons and daughters greet thee, greet thee dear old GAR.

As we sing our life's last message, sweetest on our lips will be,

Memories of our days in high school...days that live so rich and free...

LOYAL SONS AND DAUGHTERS, PRAISE THEE.

PRAISE THEE DEAR OLD G....A....R.

Later. I've got a date with my dentist this morning.

Toxic Tommy: Tell Us the TRUTH!

  
Starting last evening on TV & radio, I heard PA Governor Tom Corbett talk about the Susquehanna's floodwaters being toxic, and deftly inferring that sewage treatment plants along the river were somehow the primary and/or only cause of the toxicity.

For those that visit this blog often, you all know how familiar I am with the north branch of the Susquehanna River, especially what's going on in the areas being exploited by the Marcellus Shale drillers. It is a fact that many of the areas used to transfer and/or store materials (toxic chemicals) used for hydrofracturing were flooded and may still be under several feet of water. Additionally, overland stormwater runoff is laden with everything it flows over, around and under.

Tom Corbett knows that as well.

Folks...don't drink the water, and when things start to dry out, don't breathe the dust. The floodwaters may definitely be contaminated with raw sewage, but the toxicity our good governor speaks of may not be limited to what we flush down our drains and toilets.  

Please be safe out there once the waters recede.
     

Susquehanna Flooding: How many more?

  

Photo by Don Williams

My parents survived the floods of 1936, 1972...and thankfully, 2011. I shovelled muck from businesses and homes in the Wyoming Valley during the summer of 1972. From many of the comments online yesterday, it seemed that more than half of those folks weren't even alive when Hurricane Agnes wreaked havoc on the Susquehanna watershed a generation or two ago.

Several of my friends upstream ( near Towanda ) had up to a foot of water on the first floor of their homes, and the water is just starting to recede this morning. In Wilkes-Barre, as of this moment, the levees are holding.

  Hold, baby, hold! 

There will be thousands of articles about the Susquehanna online today. I'll let folks who write for a living cover this issue.

  

  

Another Agnes?

   
At 9:04 p.m. last evening, I received a call asking permission to evacuate my father from his assisted-living facility in the Wyoming Valley to higher ground if and when it became necessary.

Permission granted.

An hour or so earlier, I received an e-mail from friends who live along the Susquehanna near Towanda. They indicated their basement would start flooding when the river hit ~27'.  The river was at 27.22'  27.47' 27.69' fifteen minutes ago, and still rising rapidly per the USGS graph below.

90 miles or so downstream, the Susquehanna has already started flooding in areas not protected by the levee system, set to withstand a river level of 41'. They are predicting a crest of 38.5' 39.6' as of this writing. 

Many areas are bracing for what is now looking like near record flooding.

And even further upstream near the PA/NY border...the Susquehanna continues to approach record levels.

Seriously...13' above flood stage?

I hope all my friends along the Susquehanna stay safe over the next 24-48 hours.

  

     

Susquehanna River: Same Old Same Old...

  

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And 39+ years earlier...

Several years ago, I wrote a letter to the editor about flooding, continued development within the Susquehanna's watershed, and the probability of continued high(er) water events. I'm pretty sure it's still online, but don't have time to find it this morning as, once again, I have two sump pumps running to keep my basement ( a.k.a. man cave ) - which we just put back together on Sunday - from getting flooded again.

For those that need to know, my home's foundation sits on bedrock, and when the water hits that, it slows down considerably and starts to pool under my basement slab. Earlier this year, we paid a "dirt specialist" to come in and expand our drainage system and create some new swales to move water away from our home more quickly. I think he'll be getting a call in the next day or two.

Off to check the basement...

 

Susquehanna River Blessing Ceremony Set

CANCELLED DUE TO UNSAFE RIVER LEVELS

CANCELLED DUE TO UNSAFE RIVER LEVELS

Next Sunday, 9/11/11, members of the Iroquois Nation will be traveling from upstate NY to Tunkhannock to perform a river thanksgiving/blessing ceremony. After the ceremony, which begins at ~11 a.m. in Tunkhannock's Riverside Park, there will be a short ( ~4 miles ) paddle to a riverside property where the celebration will continue with a potluck lunch.

UPDATE:   At the request of the Onondaga Nation, please bring a jug of water from your well or nearby stream to be used in the ceremony.

If you're not interested in paddling, please join us at the riverside ceremony beginning at 11, as well as the potluck feast ( please bring a dish to pass ) afterward. Yes, this event is open to the public.

The location for the potluck lunch is approximately 1 mile once you turn off Rte. 29 South onto Keelersburg Road ( SR 2007 ). I will post more details later this week. As long as you car pool as best you can, there is room for cars to park at this private property right along the river. There will also be a gas grill or two and some picnic tables, etc. No wood-fired brick ovens, though. (Darn!!).

Note: Although a few have inquired, the front seat(s) in my kayak is still open. The kayak can actually fit two adults and one child up to ~10...and if interested, I can make it available for 3 folks to use and bring one of my single kayaks for myself. All I ask is to be shuttled back to Riverside Park when we're done.  P.S. -Dogs are welcome in my kayak.

Susquehanna @ Tunkhannock

Original artwork by Paul Barretto - 1998 

If you have any questions that can't wait, send me an e-mail at djw444@gmail.com

Enjoy the rest of your day.

And the Mighty Oak Falleth...

  

    

  

We spent most of yesterday in the once majestic Wyoming Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania. We had a chance to visit all of our parents - which is always time well spent - and there were hedges to be trimmed, grass to be mowed, and pictures to be taken along the way.

Here are but a few of the pics taken:

Above: Civil War Marker in Swoyersville/Luzerne area.

Below: One of the many remnants of the anthracite coal mining industry in the Wyoming Valley. I guesstimate the pile of mining refuse in Swoyersville to be between 125' and 150' high.

Below: A large oak tree was uprooted on River Street in Wilkes-Barre by a lady named Irene.

 

This building is almost directly across from the Millennium Circle.

Below: Some of the many folks who want to keep the Hotel Sterling from being made into a parking lot just like the historic Old Fell House was just a few city blocks away. I ordered six T-shirts to help spread the word.

Yes...this place does matter. If you want to help, stop by during the times listed below and support the folks who refuse to go quietly into the night and allow another bit of local history and our heritage to be destroyed by a wrecking ball and continued poor decision-making by northeastern PA's elected leaders. 

  

Order a t-shirt...honk your horn...spread the word.

  

Today's the day we start putting the basement back together.

Later.