Sep 13, 2018 3 min read

Cody Hillberry knew exactly what would happen Sunday when heavy rain fell across Washington as he and a friend grabbed their kayaks and paddled around flooded West Chestnut Street.

In reality, we all knew what to expect.

The stretch of road that acts as the municipal dividing line between North Franklin and Canton townships has been prone to flooding in recent months. Authorities suspect a crushed underground storm sewer on private property is to blame.

The state Department of Transportation and North Franklin officials have met with three property owners – a gas station, restaurant and pharmacy – where the problem is located. Gary Sweat, the township solicitor for North Franklin, said the municipality has pinpointed the crushed pipe to below the gas station.

“It’s a bad scene,” Sweat said. “They need to fix it.”

That could be said about any number of areas in our region.

To the south in the Waynesburg area, the newly constructed Freedom Bridge that takes traffic on Route 19/21 over Ten Mile Creek flooded. The raging water from the creek has nearly spilled over the bridge several times since it replaced a narrower span there and opened to traffic about a year ago.

Just upstream, the Waynesburg University football field was submerged by floodwater for at least the third time since late 2016. The flooding was so damaging nearly two years ago that the university replaced the field’s synthetic surface.

In Bridgeville, residents whose home near McLaughlin Run were blasted by devastating flooding June 20 were once again deluged with water over the weekend. Most of it was confined to basements, but it has become such a regular occurrence that borough officials are warning residents not to leave valuable items in underground levels.

Meanwhile, Park Avenue at South Main Street in Washington once again flooded when the narrow Catfish Creek spilled its banks. That seems to happen every time a stiff fog rolls through town.

These areas aren’t exactly the flood plains along the mighty Monongahela or Ohio rivers that catch runoff from tributaries across the region.

So what’s different now? How many times must it rain before we fix problematic areas that are prone to flooding?

Or is this the new normal? It seems we are already feeling the specter of climate change. These storms are becoming more powerful and more frequent.

If that’s the case, then our local, state and federal governments better start preparing now for more stormwater runoff that is flooding businesses, homes and roads.

If more storms like Tropical System Gordon and the titanic Hurricane Florence keep pounding our country and region with tremendous amounts of rain, then it’s time now to start looking for solutions and investing in new infrastructure rather than waiting for the next big one to hit.