Flood damage doesn’t qualify for federal disaster declaration
Floodwaters carried a fallen tree until it became lodged next to a pedestrian bridge over Mingo Creek in the county park.
This previously smooth approach at the pedestrian and bike trail in Mingo Creek County Park was rendered impassible by flood damage.
This restroom at Shelter No. 3 in Mingo Creek County Park was lifted from its base by floodwaters.
This picnic table was left upside down in rushing water after flooding Friday at Mingo Creek County Park.
Debris is lodged in a bridge after flooding at Mingo Creek County Park.
Ron Pudlowski of Belle Vernon took this photo of the rescue of people stranded on a boat in the Monongahela River during a concert Saturday night at the aquatorium in Monongahela.
Washington County officials are compiling a list of structures damaged by flooding Friday and Saturday. The chart lists Finleyville twice, and the total number of damaged structures there is 13. Much of the damage countywide was due to basement flooding.
CHARLEROI – The Monongahela River was expected to reopen to navigation late Monday after heavy rain over the weekend sent flooding into the severe range in the Charleroi area.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was still evaluating how the sunken California Boat Club would be removed slightly upriver from Locks and Dam No. 4 in Charleroi, where the river crested nearly eight feet above flood stage Sunday, said Corps spokesman Jeff Hawk.
“They actually saw it sink,” Hawk said, referring to employees at the locks and dam. “We’re not sure what the fix is right now.”
The Corps did not believe the sunken vessel would be an immediate threat to navigating through the locks.
Hawk also said the Corps hadn’t determined if the boat club owners, Lawrence and Nancy Victoria, would face any penalties because of the situation.
He said mariners need to be warned the strong currents in the river dislodged some of the buoys, and to take extra caution until the Corps returns the navigational markers to their original positions.
The barge holding the boat club’s restaurant sank in May where it was moored in Coal Center. The club has a permit to dock there, and only the restaurant portion broke free during the flooding, Hawk said.
He said the rising water closed all Corps locks and dams on the Mon River between Point Marion in Fayette County and Braddock in Allegheny County.
Meanwhile, the recently renovated Noble J. Dick Aquatorium in Monongahela escaped damage, but it will need to be washed down to remove mud and debris left behind by the flooding.
The nearby city-owned docks and a new kayak launch that was dedicated Thursday both suffered damage from the high water, Monongahela Councilman Ken Kulak said.
The launch remained in its position Monday, but the walkway out to it broke free during the flooding and became tangled in debris in fencing at the riverfront stage, Kulak said. Portions of the boat dock that broke free Saturday were corralled by a downstream dock, and they should be able to be salvaged, he said.
“Hopefully, it will be reassembled,” said Donna Holdorf of the Mon River Towns program that helped Washington County secure a grant to purchase the launch.
“It’s always going to be a challenge,” Holdorf said regarding efforts to protect the launch from the river.
Two teams of two members each fanned out in Washington County to notify business owners they might be able to apply for loans through the federal Small Business Administration because of Friday’s and Saturday’s flooding, but homeowners are basically on their own when it comes to cleanup costs, said Jeff Yates, Washington County director of public safety.
Raging water inflicted “a lot of damage on a lot of people,” Yates said, but probably not the magnitude that would warrant a federal disaster declaration, requirements for which have been tightened.
Local, county and state emergency declarations give governmental entities some latitude when making purchases, but roads and infrastructure damage were not widespread.
Mingo Creek County Park experienced road and trail damage, but it would be up to the Parks Department to estimate that, Yates said.
Lisa Cessna, executive director of the Washington County Planning Commission, which oversees county parks and trails, surveyed the damage, an estimate for which was not yet available.
At the park at midday Monday, children frolicked in the playground and people walked dogs as usual, but caution tape across trail bridges and “road closed” signs were very much in evidence.
“The parks crew went above and beyond the call,” said Vince Ley, Washington County project engineer, who was looking over damage to Mingo trail bridges with Vince Tresco, an employee of Tresco Paving Corp., which has completed work at the county fairgrounds and is in the process of paving the Panhandle Trail from the West Virginia border to Francis Mine. Work also was being done to clear a landslide in the Mingo Creek valley.
The park remained open the entire weekend, and when a wedding party canceled its need for a shelter, park staff, which was on the job at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, accommodated another group on higher ground.
Cessna compared the recent storm with the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, which she recalled “wasn’t that bad. We didn’t have this kind of damage. I’ve never seen anything like it – such a lot of force.” Pavement was redistributed in fields “like puzzle pieces,” she said. Mounds of asphalt heaved up next to a bridge like miniature volcanoes. Huge trees had been swept parallel to bridge decks, while smaller branches interlaced bridge railings.
Individuals and groups have offered to assist the county, but Cessna has asked them to direct their efforts to homeowners and business owners who lack the county’s access to manpower and equipment.
City of Washington officials have decided to close Washington Park pool for the remainder of the season after flooding caused muddy water to fill it Friday night. This is the second time this summer the pool flooded.
The city spent about $7,000 to refill the pool in time for the Fourth of July weekend after a combination of runoff from a nearby access road and failure of a drainage pipe led to muddy water flowing into the baby pool and Olympic-sized swimming pool.
“We figured it would take a week-and-a-half at minimum to clean it out again, and another $7,000 in water and chemicals,” Putnam said. “By the time we get it done, there are two weeks left in the season.”
Putnam said several city roads were flooded, including Houston, Chestnut, South and South Main streets and Washington Avenue.
“It just seems to be the same streets all the time, getting flooded in heavy rain,” Putnam said. “We’ve reached out to the Department of Environmental Protection to see what they can do to help us. It seems to be Catfish Creek that’s the issue.”
Washington Fire Department responded to about 150 calls for flooded basements over the weekend. Fire departments from Canton and North Strabane townships assisted with pumping out the water.
Staff writer Natalie Reid Miller contributed to this report.