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TYRONE -- A little stream that's normally a trickle runs by the Catich house on Oak Street in Snyder Township, just beyond the northeast edge of Tyrone.
The unnamed stream has never flooded during the nearly 60 years the family has lived there, including when Hurricane Agnes raged in 1972, but on the afternoon of Sunday, July 5, after an hour of torrential rain, the trickle became a river that spilled into the basement entryway of the Catich house, flexed open the bottom of the cellar door, filled the basement 6½-feet deep with water and ruined the house furnace and hot water heater, a freezer and numerous shop tools owned by woodworker John Catich, according to his son Chris.
Chris Catich Tuesday was among representatives from about 50 households that were damaged in flash flooding that day and in a second storm overnight the next day who attended a multi-agency resource center (MARC) event in Tyrone organized by the Blair County Department of Emergency Services, so that officials can get a handle on damages and those with damages can get help and begin to apply for government reimbursement for the losses -- which could total about $1 million on about 100 properties, according to Tyrone Mayor John Harlow.
A preliminary check shows that the Tyrone area could meet the county-level threshold of 25 homes with uninsured damages that are at least 40% of their replacement value or pre-disaster market value, whichever is less, thus potentially qualifying the area for low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and grants from the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program (DRAP) operated by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, according to Harlow.
SBA representatives will be in town today to verify or refute that preliminary finding.
Most of the damage resulted from three inches of rain that fell in one hour, starting at 3 p.m. July 5, Harlow said.
The second, less damaging storm, actually dropped 4.5 inches of rain, but over a longer period -- two hours, starting at 11:30 p.m. July 6, Harlow said.
In addition to damages to households, there has been damage to public and private infrastructure, although that hasn't been fully analyzed, he said.
Indications of that damage are newly formed sinkholes, including one that has led to a street closure near 18th Street and Madison Avenue, he said.
The response to the flooding from people wanting to help has been heartening, according to Harlow.
"There have been so many blessings out of this," he said.
They include Major Christopher Blessing of the Salvation Army in Altoona, who was at the MARC event providing food and drinks to participants, along with food boxes to those with losses.
Representatives of two area nonprofit disaster response organizations were also present Tuesday, having previously arrived in town without being asked -- Three Friends Ministries of Philipsburg and Crisis Relief and Recovery of State College, Harlow said.
Three Friends has parked a trailer in town with tools useful in post-flood recovery work that residents can borrow, and Crisis Relief has shoveled out mud from basements and replaced water heaters, according to Harlow.
Catich, who is living at his father's home because his own burned in December, estimates the flood caused his father $12,000 in damage.
He started a GoFundMe for his dad, but that has produced only a modest amount so far, he said.
His father is taking things in stride, but for him, the flooding seems a bit "unreal."
The water left the basement over about nine hours through drains in the floor that led to the stream from where it came in the first place, Chris Catich said.
It left four inches of mud, but Crisis Relief workers shoveled that out.
His father used his shop tools to make pieces that he gave away, Catich said.
Flood victims need to document their losses with pictures, according to Cris Fredrickson, operations and training coordinator for the county Department of Emergency Services.
They should also report those damages on crisistrack.juvare.com/public/blairPA/request.html, or call them into their municipality, Fredrickson said.
Blessing and his wife, Major Jenn Blessing, devote their professional lives to helping.
He can't stand the idea of sitting around doing nothing when he sees people in need, Christopher Blessing said.
From Lewistown originally, he comes from a family of firefighters.
His experience after 9/11 at Shanksville, where he was one of many people representing various agencies offering assistance, helped confirm his choice of profession.
"It didn't matter who you were," he said of that experience. "You were there for a united purpose -- it was so cool."
Tyrone, Snyder Township and the City of Altoona -- as well as Blair County as a whole -- have made disaster declarations for the July 5 and 6 storms.
Municipalities have until July 20 to make such declarations.
Municipalities need to have declared disasters for their residents to receive DRAP grants, although it is necessary for their residents to be eligible for SBA loans, an official at the event said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.