Companies aid recovery effort from flooding in Connellsville, Bullskin

Sept. 16--Amy Smalley watched in amazement Thursday in the backyard of her Bullskin Township home as an army of volunteers from 84 Lumber Co. cleared out debris from a shed torn apart by furious flood waters Aug. 28.

"We tried to get people to do it, but they could not," Smalley said, in part because its metal roof, so big it couldn't be moved, had fallen atop its contents. That didn't stop a gang of the building company's employees from carrying it to a Dumpster across from her Coal Brook Street home.

Smalley, who lost her furnace, water heater, washer, dryer and freezer when 6 feet of water poured into her basement, was one of several flood victims who benefitted from an influx of volunteers from 84 Lumber -- about 30 in all from several stores and company headquarters in western Pennsylvania and from West Virginia. "The way the people have come out and helped has been phenomenal," Smalley said. "We have been very blessed. We live in a world where we see a lot of hate. There has been so much good out of this."

She got a new furnace installed Thursday free of charge, thanks to Fayette Furnace of Uniontown and its supplier.

84 Lumber has committed $50,000 in supplies -- lumber, drywall, insulation, plywood and electrical equipment -- to rebuild flood-damaged homes in the Connellsville and Bullskin areas, spokeswoman Becky Mancuso said as a truck delivered another load of lumber and drywall to the former East End fire hall in downtown Connellsville.

Deliveries have come over the past two weeks with supplies distributed on a rationed basis to owners of flood-damaged homes, Mancuso said.

About 30 families in Connellsville and Bullskin have benefitted so far from the donated building supplies, said city Councilwoman Melissa Tzan.

One recipient was Ross Soisson, whose Connell Avenue home was left with a basement full of water and a first floor soaked with 18 inches of muddy mess. That meant ripping apart the walls and studs to eliminate mold, he said.

"It happened real quick," Soisson said of the flash flood. The family managed to save their television set and other electronics by moving them upstairs.

Soisson and Smalley's homes are among the 220 in the Connellsville area that the American Red Cross determined were damaged. Fourteen were so extensively damaged they must be demolished, said Vernon E. Ohler, city clerk.

The challenge for the city, Ohler said, will be to obtain funds to demolish the homes whose owners didn't have flood insurance. The damage to public property -- $18 million worth -- was not extensive enough to warrant an emergency declaration, which would have made it easier to obtain funding for demolition, he said.

As thankful as Smalley is for all the assistance from countless volunteers, including 14 youngsters from her daughter's New Horizon's 4-H Club, she was miffed that the state hasn't declared the area a disaster zone.

"Why the governor would not do it does not make any sense," said Smalley, whose home near the intersection of two Youghiogheny River tributaries got hit with a backup of water.

Gov. Wolf toured the flood-damaged area on Sept. 2, but the area was not declared a disaster zone because it didn't meet federal limit for a declaration, which is measured by the dollar amount of damage, said spokeswoman Beth Melena.

"We are still in the process of helping Connellsville apply for federal low-interest loan funding," Melena said.

PEMA and Fayette County have conducted damage assessments to determine the impact of the flooding and determine eligibility for a U.S. Small Business Administration disaster declaration. The declaration would make low-interest loans available to eligible homeowners, renters and business owners, state officials said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or [email protected].

___

(c)2016 Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)

Visit Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.