Anxiety persists in West Pittston 5 years after flooding

Sept. 03--WEST PITTSTON -- Tropical Storm Lee was Bob and Colleen Trusavage's fourth flood.

The first two were relatively minor, the third was worse, and the fourth put them out of their home on Susquehanna Avenue for months.

They thought about moving, but decided to stay and raise their home. Everything is 12 feet higher, and the ground floor is tile and stucco. If it floods again, the only thing they should need for the cleanup is a powerwasher.

"Downstairs, we're virtually floodproof," he said.

The Susquehanna River was beautiful Friday. Bob Trusavage saw an egret stepping along the bank. Around this time five years ago, he was pulling into his driveway with a U-Haul truck as the water rose much faster than expected.

On Sept. 8, 2011, the town began flooding as the river rose in the wake of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. By the time it stopped, floodwaters damaged more then 800 properties.

Many property owners are back, but many have taken buyouts and moved, and FEMA regulations mean the lots they left behind can't be built on again. Local officials are worried that it will erode the tax base. Some residents said another devastating flood, which they regard as inevitable, will cause so many people to leave that the town won't exist as it does now.

Bob Trusavage doesn't know anyone else who raised their home in the wake of flooding. Federal grants paid for most of the cleanup and lifting project, but he estimates it cost him at least $100,000 of the family's funds.

Dealing with contractors and organizing the project was frustrating, Bob Trusavage said, but it allowed the family to remain in their home, and dropped their flood insurance rates from about $2,600 to about $600. The most valuable change will perhaps be an expected improvement in the home's resale value compared to if the home stayed on the ground level.

Trusavage doesn't think there will ever be a levee in West Pittston, but he hopes the federal government allocates funds for a flood wall next to the river.

"If another flood hits, this town's done," he said.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey visited the town Friday, stopping at Agolino's Restaurant on Luzerne Avenue to talk to flood victims and taking a short walk to see some of the vacant lots where homes used to stand.

The last major legislative work on the federal flood insurance program occurred in 2014, Casey said. Congress usually looks at the program on a five-year cycle, although that can be pushed back. He hopes Congress will start discussing a reauthorization bill for the next year.

Ideally, the government would create a long-term solution that makes the program more affordable, he said, but there's always the question of what the National Flood Insurance Program can sustain. Too much money paid out compromises the entire program.

To have a truly complete recovery, he said, "this takes years."

Borough Councilwoman Judy Aita spoke to Casey and was a tour guide for part of the walk. She showed the senator a vacant lot where the community group West Pittston Tomorrow wants to build a town garden or a senior citizens playground. Regulations about what can go on the lots have made the project difficult.

"Never mind the money, we can't get control of the lot," she said.

Judy Stevenson lives near Agolino's Restaurant. A home on one side of her house and a church on the other side are both scheduled for demolition soon, she said.

That's often the easiest solution, said state Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, who toured the town with the senator. Frustrations with state and federal regulations make other options more of a chore.

Stevenson sees two possible solutions: Building a levee or using government funding to raise her home so another flood isn't as devastating.

Two decades ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a cost-benefit analysis to construct a $25-million levee in the borough and determined only 30 cents of economic loss would be prevented for each dollar spent. Federal rules require a minimum cost-benefit ratio of 1-to-1 to get funding. When considering the destruction from the 2011 floods, Stevenson thinks it may be worth the cost. That storm sent floodwaters further into the borough than previous floods and affected many more lives, she said.

"If it happens again, I think a lot of people will leave," she said.

[email protected]

570-821-2051, @CVBillW

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