High water creates headaches
Residents mop up after heavy rains flood area
Stanley T. Neal of 142 Beaver St., Hollidaysburg, shovels mud out of his flooded basement Friday. Mirror photo by Shen Wu Tan
At left: Kimberly McChesney wades into the flood waters at East Loop and Hollidaysburg Sportsmen Road to retrieve her van late Friday morning. Mirror photo by Gary M. Baranec
John Adams, Logan Township Highway Department equipment operator, attempts to redirect water from Frankstown Road on Friday. Mirror photo by Shen Wu Tan
Stanley T. Neal of 142 Beaver St., Hollidaysburg, shovels mud out of his flooded basement Friday. Mirror photo by Shen Wu Tan
At left: Kimberly McChesney wades into the flood waters at East Loop and Hollidaysburg Sportsmen Road to retrieve her van late Friday morning. Mirror photo by Gary M. Baranec
John Adams, Logan Township Highway Department equipment operator, attempts to redirect water from Frankstown Road on Friday. Mirror photo by Shen Wu Tan
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Metal scraped against concrete as a retired Hollidaysburg resident shoveled muddy residue from his flooded basement Friday afternoon.
Stanley T. Neal, 68, of 142 Beaver St., estimated more than 2 feet of water submerged his dimly lit basement that morning, filling his furnace.
Shovel in hand, Neal scooped a pile of mud from his damp basement and tossed it out near a grassy backyard steeped in dirt-colored rainwater.
Neal, who has lived in the house for 10 years, said "brown muddy water" flooded Beaver Street and the surrounding area about 9 a.m., shortly after the National Weather Service issued a flash flood alert.
"It was pouring over. This whole area was under water," he said, referring to the perimeter of his house.
NWS meteorologist Joe Ceru said there were several rounds of precipitation Thursday night. The NWS issued flash flood warnings for Blair and north central Bedford counties Friday morning.
He said the weather service received reports of flooding in houses along 13th and 15th streets in Altoona. There were more than 2 inches of rain around the Altoona area, Ceru added.
The average precipitation for the month of August from 1981-2010 hovered about 3 inches, he said.
Logan Township emergency responders and public works teams responded to multiple areas flooded by the downpour. Lakemont, Eldorado and Greenwood experienced the "greatest number of issues," according to a press statement.
Volunteer fire crews responded to multiple incidents of basement flooding, including the Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department.
David Zeek, president of the fire department, said his department responded to flooding in Fort Fetter and Gaysport areas. The department had seven houses in the area to drain, according to his list.
Zeek said the fire departments are unable to pump water out of residents' basements right away. "Normally, when we respond, they want us to pump right away," he said. "We can't because the water is still rising. Once it starts receding down, that's when we'll start pumping."
Twenty of his fire department volunteers were working Friday, either manning an emergency shelter the department set up for displaced residents or pumping water out of basements. The Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department has four portable pumps to suction water out of basements.
Elda Brown, an 82-year-old Hollidaysburg resident, said both of her properties along Bedford and Beaver streets flooded. She attributed the flooding to the rainfall that travels down from Penn Farm Estates and Holliday Hills apartments.
Brown said her son, who has a property along Bedford Street, had four pumps trying to pump 5 feet of water out of his basement.
She added that she doesn't have flood insurance and doesn't take out "muddy loans" to repair the damage from flooding. Brown described Friday's flooding as one of the worst.
"The storm sewers back up. That's the big issue. The storm sewers will not carry the water," she said. "When the water is barreling down here, they're just barreling right over the storm sewers because there is no way they can handle it."
She called for a water retention system, describing the water retention system at Penn Farms as "inadequate" and expressing frustration at the borough.
Neal also commented on how the "retention ponds" and the "mini ditch" near his house are not nearly big enough, causing the water to overflow and "become a river."
He suggested enlarging both the ponds and ditch and adding piping to the ditch to alleviate flooding.
"I don't know what all of the damage is going to be," Neal said of his basement. He added that he thinks his hot water tank, gas furnace and electric motor on the coal furnace will be damaged or destroyed.
He said he will have to shovel dirt out, dry out his basement and haul out damaged items.
In addition to draining basements, the Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company also helped to shut down many of the roadways deemed "impassable" Friday, Zeek said.
Ceru reminded people to not drive through flooded roadways, commenting that drivers don't know if the submerged parts of the road even still exist.
Mirror Staff Writer Shen Wu Tan is at 946-7457.