PITTSBURGH — Water is beginning to recede after two days of brutal flooding across western Pennsylvania.
A long road to recovery has begun in some communities as cleanup gets underway.
Severe Weather Team 11 took a look at the lingering damage across our area.
Crescent Township camping area overtaken by flood waters
Neighbors say the Glenwillard Boat Club uses a dry area in Crescent Township as a camping spot — but the Ohio River has taken over.
Residents tell Channel 11 that most people moved their campers and secured their belongings Wednesday before the flooding got too bad, but not everyone could. The remaining items have now been moved by flood water.
Thankfully most people Channel 11 spoke with have not seen any damage to their homes.
But Dan Muller, who has lived on Front Street his whole life, says they were worried but prepared.
“I have 600 of my own sandbags I’m ready to put around my house. I was getting ready to do it last night but the lock master called me and gave me the update what the water was going to be so I trusted him and I was right to trust him,” Muller said.
The Ohio River crested at 28 feet and is now down to 26 feet which is considered a minor flood stage.
It’s projected to drop below flood stage sometime Thursday night.
Busy Beaver County bridge remains shut down due to flooding
High waters on the Connoquenessing Creek still flow rapidly behind a Beaver County neighborhood.
“Me and my daughter took one change of clothes thinking we’d be back here tomorrow evening not issues, we came back last night and the water was at the tree line and in worse shape,” said Crystal Bonifate who lives in North Sewickley.
Bonifate left her home when there was just a little bit of water coming into the basement living space, but when she returned 24 hours later, what she found was a mess.
“I was bawling, the water was up to the door there were clothes floating, the couch was floating, pictures just horrible,” Bonifate said.
While this is her first experience with the rising waters, many of her neighbors told Channel 11 this is the normal for them. One woman said she’s lived along the creek for 30 years and has cleaned and fixed her home from the floodwaters more than a dozen times.
Now garbage floats through the properties as the cleanup begins and people like Bonifate are looking towards what’s next.
“I’ve contacted the insurance company and I’ve contacted my mortgage company and there’s an issue there so hoping to get that resolved and as you can see I have two pumps going I’m just hoping to get in there to start wiping things down to see what I have left and what I have to replace,” Bonifate said.
There was a shelter set up at the Franklin Township Fire Department with the Red Cross, but they did not get anyone seeking help so that point has now turned into a drop off location if anyone wants to donate supplies for people who are trying to clean up.
Youghiogheny River in Sutersville reaches crest
The Youghiogheny River in Sutersville reached its crest of nearly 24.5 feet Wednesday at 9 p.m.
Brian Stewart, who lives along the riverbank had more than two feet of water from the river on the first floor of his home.
Thursday was a day spent cleaning.
“Couches are ruined. [The] bed’s ruined,” Stewart told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “It’s all a mess.”
You can see the water line left behind on the walls inside his home.
In his basement, there was still between two to three feet of Youghiogheny River water around 1 p.m. Thursday.
“I’ll have to take the walls out four feet, take the insulation out, dry it all out, paint the walls,” Stewart said of the work he now has to do.
Stewart said when he saw the forecasted crest for the Youghiogheny would be 24 feet, he started preparing.
“[I] clean[ed] all the cabinets out, everything on the floor out. Got out what I could,” he said. “Usually around 22.8 [feet], I start getting it on the floors.”
He stayed with his brother overnight and gave the river time to recede.
“When you got back here what was the first thing that went through your head?” Havranek asked Stewart.
“Here we go again,” Stewart responded.
He’s not alone. Channel 11 also talked to Stanley Jarmon, the father of Tanner Jarmon who spoke with Channel 11 on Wednesday before his family went to a hotel for the night.
Stanley is glad they did.
“We had about a half inch before it hit the first floor so we got really, really lucky,” Jarmon said to Havranek.
He said they lost the furnace and a water heater, but luckily, the water didn’t reach the main floor.
“How thankful are you that this wasn’t worse?” Havranek asked.
“Oh, very thankful,” Jarmon said. “Thank God. If it would’ve been an inch higher we would have had a whole mess to clean up.”
Both Jarmon and Stanley said they deal with floods often. There were two big floods in 2018. They said one of those floods was much worse than Wednesday’s.
“Have you ever thought about moving away from the river?” Havranek asked Stewart.
“Yeah, but it’s so nice down here it’s hard to, you know?” Stewart replied.
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