The sidewise rainfall during that hour was so intense that Mayor John Harlow couldn’t see the house across the street from his own house, Harlow said Monday, after he issued an emergency declaration.

A duplex on 20th Street was rendered uninhabitable because its foundation collapsed, four additional homes were severely damaged, one additional home was slightly damaged and 19 more houses received some flooding, according to Harlow, who was working with Blair County Emergency Management and the American Red Cross on further damage assessments.

Local officials were planning to meet with officials from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency today, and there may hope, although no certainty, that some sort of disaster assistance could be forthcoming, according to Harlow.

The storm caused between $5,000 and $15,000 in damage to the community pool, as it left four feet of flood water in the filter room and an inch or more of dirt at the bottom of the pool, which means the pool will need to be drained and the drains scrubbed, before the pool can be refilled and tested, Harlow said. The facility will be closed for a week or two, he said.

Water-damaged items are pictured along Lincoln Avenue in Tyrone on Monday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The storm damaged two pavilions and felled trees in Reservoir Park, which will be closed for a couple weeks for repairs, the mayor said.

The storm tore away part of a retaining wall and seven or eight feet of ground on the parking lot side of the American Legion, Harlow said.

The storm flooded the Little League field and led to six to eight inches of floodwater running on old Route 220 near the Magisterial District Judge Kevin Stoltz’s office, Harlow said.

The girls who were swept away were playing on an “inflatable” on Lincoln Avenue about half a block from the Neptune station when they were sucked into a drainage ditch and under a set of railroad tracks near the American Eagle Paper Mill and then into Bald Eagle Creek in the area where it is dammed up, according to Neptune Fire Company Chief Alan Walls.

A parent stopped a fire truck that was driving by on a mission to deal with flooded basements, Walls said.

One of the girls hauled herself out of the creek by grabbing a branch and climbing over a wall, while a security guard helped the other one get out, according to Walls.

They were in the water less than 10 minutes, he estimated.

One was swept about 50 yards, the other about 150 yards, he estimated.

“They got very lucky,” Walls said.

One was transported to the hospital, Walls said.

He had heard that both were stable, but wasn’t certain about the accuracy of that report.

The girls were about 12 years old, according to Harlow.

Neptune, Hookies Fire Company, Bald Eagle Volunteer Fire Company and the Geeseytown water rescue team were called out to help with the incident, according to Harlow.

The rainstorm occurred between 3 and 4 p.m., Harlow said.

“I’ve never seen it rain like that,” Harlow said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.