Flood cleanup underway in western Schuylkill County

July 25--The western end of Schuylkill County tried to get life back to normal Tuesday after floodwaters damaged homes and vehicles.

"We are just trying to deal with the water," Sheena Giebler, 36, of Tremont, said.

Her family moved July 3 from Port Carbon to a house at 27 Spring St. in the borough. They didn't expect their introduction to town would be a flood. Thankfully, they have flood insurance. Giebler, her husband, John, 43; their children, Jonathan, 17, Madison, 13, Hailey, 9, and Aiden, 5; and her in-laws, Bill, 72, and Patricia, 68, stayed at the house when the rain started to fall. While they are safe, their three vehicles are a total loss due to water damage, Sheena Giebler said.

Giebler said they had 6 feet of water in their basement. A furnace, freezer and oil tanks were ruined.

"It just came in like a river. There was no time," Giebler said.

A flash flood watch and a flood warning are still in effect today for some areas of Schuylkill County.

On Tuesday, Michael Colbert, a meteorologist with the NWS, State College, said from 7 a.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday, 4.8 inches of rain fell in Pine Grove and from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday, 3.97 inches were recorded. A similar amount of rain fell in Tremont, he said, however, measurements were not provided.

Colbert said "probably another inch or two or localized higher amounts" will fall today, adding that "the rain should stop Thursday."

More rain is possible Friday, although not a significant amount is expected. Colbert said the weekend "should be pretty nice."

That is good news to Beverly Shick, of Tremont. She lives at 31 Spring St. and has seen her share of water creeping its way into her home.

"This is our third time," she said of flooding in the home that she has lived at for 35 years.

The first time was during the flood of 2011. She said this time was the worst.

"It came so fast you didn't have time to really prepare," she said.

While she was at work, her husband called and told her boss about the flooding. When she got home, she found out more about the damage.

"We had 12 inches in our living, 14 inches in our kitchen," she said. In comparison, the home had 6 or 7 inches in 2011.

Shick said they have been throwing a lot of stuff away. She is relieved she has flood insurance, something she recommends to other homeowners.

"If at all possible, definitely get flood insurance. It is definitely worth the little bit you have to put out," she said.

Tyler Schaeffer, 26, and Kyrstin Wessner, 29, live down the street at 21 Spring St. They were evacuated by emergency personnel Monday morning and taken to a family member's house.

They had 8 to 10 inches of water in their basement, which housed a furnace and oil tanks. They have flood insurance.

"We do have a sump pump and it obviously could not keep up," Schaeffer said.

Their cars were damaged by water.

"All this can be replaced. They made it out safely," Holly Schaeffer, Tyler's mother, said.

Daniel Noll Sr., 39 Spring St., echoed the comments about the severity of this flood.

"This is the worst I've seen. I've been here 12 years," Noll said.

His basement was under 4 feet of water, while the living room had 3 inches and the kitchen had 14 inches.

Juan Rosado, 101-103 Spring St., said his basement was flooded. The Good Spring Creek is behind his house. He saw a dumpster float by and damage a foot bridge.

"I hope it doesn't repeat itself. It's bad," he said.

Fast-flowing water damaged the American Legion Post 384 building at 25 E. Main St., Tremont, causing foundation damage. A sign posted on the door by the codes official said the building is not safe.

"It fell into the creek," Jodi Reed, secretary to the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion, said about part of the foundation. The building is home to Legionnaires, Sons of the American Legion and the ladies auxiliary. Tenants had to leave the several apartments on the other side of the building at 23 E. Main St., she said.

The Legion doesn't know what it is going to do about the damage as they had no flood insurance.

Tremont Fire Chief Brian Eisenacher said between 25 and 30 people were rescued Monday from their homes or cars. A shelter was opened at the Tremont Ambulance building and will remain open until circumstances change.

"We are looking at staying open until the bulk of the storm has passed," he said.

Chris Herring, acting emergency management agency official for the borough appointed by Tremont Mayor Ricky Ney, said several fire companies and other personnel have been at the ambulance building since Monday. They include the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, county emergency management officials and fire companies from Tremont, Donaldson, Llewellyn, Mount Carbon, Reinerton, Saint Clair, Pottsville, Tuscarora, Ravine and Exeter Township Volunteer Fire Department, water rescue unit Berks County.

The borough emergency operations center at the ambulance building will also remain open until further notice. The Keystone Incident Management Team was also there.

"An advance element of the Keystone Incident Management Team is working with county and local first-response staff to develop the Incident Action Plan that will guide response and recovery operations on Tuesday and perhaps beyond. The K-IMT is organized by the East Central Task Force, comprised of the counties of Berks, Columbia, Luzerne, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming, and also supported with staff from the counties within the South Central Mountain Task Force," John Matz, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said.

In Pine Grove, the story was much the same.

Becky McCormick, 39 Wideawake St., said she had about 5 feet of water in her basement, which filled again Tuesday after it was empty Monday. While the water damage isn't something she wants to deal with, it is not as bad as 2011, she said.

"We got a lot of water in 2011," she said of the 18 inches on the first floor.

Ross Flick had to remove about 2 feet of water from the garage at his North Tulpehocken Street.

Family members moved cars to higher ground Monday morning.

"It wasn't quite as bad as 2011, but worse than 2006," Flick said.

Flick had about 4 1/2 feet in his garage in 2001 and a couple of inches in 2006.

Flick said he is moving because his job out of the county. Despite the current wet situation, he loves Pine Grove.

"It's a great community. It's a phenomenal community," he said.

The shelter at the Pine Grove Area High School closed at noon Tuesday.

Contact the writer: ; 570-628-6028

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