Severe flooding in Pennsylvania

[Joe]

Hi all,

I am home to write this because my workplace is under six inches of water. Northeastern Pennsylvania has two major rivers, the Susquehanna and the Lackawanna.

The Lackawanna River begins at the Stillwater Dam and flows through Forest City, Carbondale, and Scranton.

After dinner yesterday, I went to the dam...the gates were shut and the river (center,left) was calm as there was no water coming into it.

Then I decided to see more of the Lackawanna River. I went to Carbondale's Seventh Ave. bridge. The water was about a foot under the bridge, but a few hours earlier the water had spilled over it.

There was a crowd of ppl at the nearby Route Six bridge, which was littered with branches. Water also rose over the bridge onto the busy highway, causing to be shut down for a few hours. River Street nearby was under a few inches of water and residents were under a mandatory evacuation to leave.

We then went to a creek behind a restaurant in Carbondale. Normally just a trickle, this creek was a rampaging torrent of water.

A man was there taking pictures. He was from the Times-Tribune, the local newspaper. He had taken a photo of me and my father as we were at creekside. The man came over and asked our permission to use his photo of us. I said OK as he showed us the pic of us and took down our names. We chatted for a little bit too. I didn't see the picture in today's newspaper.

It was scary last night as we had no power after 11 PM as the rain cintinued to fall heavy in pitch black darkness. My rain gauge has counted over 12 inches of rain from last Friday; nine inches in just the past three days. Things are looking little better this morning. The power has been restored. There's a couple of inches of water in our basement but the pump in the basement going and the sun is out!

[roger]

Hi Joe,

That looks serious. I hope everyone is safe and that structural damage is minimal.

Of course, it's all Hayley's fault for singing 'The Water is Wide'! Well, someone had to say it!

Take care, my friend,
Roger

[Natasha]

Oh wow!! All these recent fires and floods are worrying me... Stay safe Joe!!

[fusilier23]

No, Tashi, it is not the apocalypse, but it does seem like every summer brings us another disaster, which everyone is keen to exploit.

[Joe]

Hi all,

I am safe, Tashi and Roger Fusilier23, who is exploiting this disaster?

Between the two major cities in my area, which are Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, and some of the smaller communities, upwards of a quarter of a million people were evacuated.

My town of Forest City (population 1900) was on CNN yesterday...one of the city fire trucks collapsed in a land slip and tumbled down a hill. No one was hurt.

I visited my workplace last evening and the building was surrounded by fire engines which were pumping water from the car park. I was let inside to my desk to retrieve personal items. The office carpeting will have to be replaced. A temporary work location will be accomodated in a nearby American Legion hall.

[Richard]

Hello Joe.

There was a report about the flooding on the radio here in London last night, and it said nine people have been killed.

I'm glad you're safe, and I hope things get back to normal soon.

Best Wishes,

Richard

[fusilier23]

No one is exploiting this - yet - and I doubt anyone will be, since it appears that most folks up in NE Pennsylvania had enough common sense to actually get going when they received the word to get going and the first responders actually responded rather than fleeing, though I am sorry about the loss of what was probably an expensive piece of equipment.

Hopefully things will get back to normal in relatively short order. If I sound like I'm still annoyed over the politicization of Hurricane Katrina, it's because I am.

[Dave]

Hello to Joe and our other American friends... this rainfall event in some Eastern States has been receiving coverage in the UK for a few days now, not only in weather bulletins but also, as Richard mentioned, in some of the news bulletins too.

Seems to have spread to Washington DC too? www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/27062006news.shtml

I hope it soon gets back to as normal as possible there, in the circumstances.

Cheers, Dave

[Joe]

Hi gang,

It appears that the worst is over. Many rivers have crested and are receding well.

Wilkes-Barre was spared major damage due to the evacuation of its residents, sliding floodgates and a sturdy levee system.

Steve O., I hope that some of your travels into NJ weren't affected by flooding. Our fire truck might be out of commission for a few months.

Yeah, Dave...flooding was also reported in Washington DC...the Internal Revenue Service building was damaged. I believe a tree toppled over from the wind and rain on the White House lawn.

One more day of working from the American Legion hall. The office should be in good shape when I return to work after the Independence Day holiday.

Take care all,
Joe