Connellsville homes, lives being rebuilt month after flood

Sept. 28--It's like a ghost town in the Connellsville neighborhood where Chad Burnsworth lives.

Some of the homes, ravaged by flash flooding one month ago, sit hauntingly empty, marked in orange spray paint with the word "DEMO."

From his front door in Dutch Bottom, Burnsworth points out a few homes across the street that are tagged for demolition.

"I don't look at that house as a demo house," he said. "That's Marie's house. That's Eugene's house. Already, you miss your neighbors."

In the month since flood waters damaged 165 homes -- at least 14 were destroyed in Connellsville alone -- and affected the lives of more than 400 people in the city as well as Bullskin and Connellsville townships, some have started to rebuild their lives. Others wait for government funding that will help them move on.

On Aug. 28, heavy rains pushed small creeks over their banks and into homes, causing approximately $7.7 million in damage. Some residents lost their homes and all of their possessions, prompting hundreds of volunteers to canvas the area, offering helping hands, food and donations.

Leasha and Bill Whittaker are among those looking for a new place to live.

The rushing floodwaters tore away a quarter-acre of their land along Breakneck Road in Bullskin along with a bridge, pavilion and patio in their backyard. Their garage, left on the verge of toppling, was demolished last week. Water damage in their home was confined mostly to the basement.

"Right now, we're still doing little cleanups," Bill Whittaker said.

Like many, he is frustrated with the predicament and the fact that insurance won't cover the damages.

"It's just been an uphill battle, from insurance companies to people stopping to take pictures," he said.

Still, a small miracle occurred Monday morning when their cat, Nala, appeared at the front door. She had been missing since the flood.

"She was just hungry," Leasha Whittaker said.

Nearby, Bob and Janice Firestone have been using a temporary footbridge to access their property, which is separated from freshly paved Breakneck Road by the creek.

About two weeks after the floodwaters took out their 30-foot span, they cut down a few trees to drive through neighboring properties and onto nearby Breakiron Road, Janice Firestone said. Now, with the appropriate permits secured, they can get estimates to build a new bridge, which will have to be 37 feet long to accommodate the creek's new width, she said.

"Monetarily, this is a big burden," she said. "If monies are to be divvied out, we're minor because it's not my home (that was damaged)."

A committee will determine how $484,000 in donations will be doled out, according to Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln and Chip Rowan, Connellsville Area Community Ministries executive director.

Donated supplies -- from drywall to appliances -- eventually will be allocated to those in need, they said.

"We realize this is a long-term effort," Rowan said. "This is bigger than anything I've ever worked with when it comes to disaster."

In the past month, PennDOT has paved a 2-mile stretch of Breakneck Road, repaired a few damaged bridges and replaced the shoulder along a portion of Route 119 north of Connellsville, said Dom Caruso, assistant construction engineer. Repair work will continue on Rich Hill Road, Route 711 and Pittsburgh Street Extension, and maintenance crews will clean up debris.

"It looks like a lot of good progress was made," said Valerie Petersen, PennDOT's district spokeswoman.

A deluge of volunteer help in the days after the flooding has waned but not disappeared. Meals are still being delivered to some residents, and volunteers are waiting to help with specialized services. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army continue to provide assistance.

"It's been overwhelming, the amount of support we've gotten," Lincoln said. "People were coming from everywhere, donating money and supplies. You can be proud of your community that we stepped up in a time of disaster."

Volunteer help and donations have been a key part in rebuilding a 12-foot-high wall that collapsed under the pressure of a few feet of water at Connellsville Church of God, said Jim Martin, chairman of the church's board of trustees. Contents of a fellowship hall were damaged, and worship services are being held in a gymnasium while structural concerns are addressed.

"By Christmas, we might be back in the sanctuary," Martin said.

Meanwhile, residents continue the arduous process of cleaning up and moving on. Some Dutch Bottom residents spray painted "thank-you" messages to volunteers on plywood piled outside their homes.

On Burnsworth's street, a spray-painted sign requests donations from curiosity seekers who still drive past and gawk.

With bare floors and new drywall stacked chest-high, Burnsworth said he and his family try to make light of the situation just to get through. Over the past few years, he and a brother had been remodeling the house for their father, who is living elsewhere for now.

"Everything's new from four feet up," he said, laughing. "It just sucks to do it all over again."

The makeup of the Dutch Bottom neighborhood could be drastically changed once homeowners make their decisions on what to do.

"More than likely, it's going to take away a whole neighborhood," Lincoln said. "It'll never be the same down there."

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or [email protected].

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