The approach to the Catlin Hollow Road bridge over the North Branch Mehoopany Creek near Lovelton appears to be floating on air after flood waters eroded a wing wall and undermined the structure. Caitlin Hollow Road is closed while Wyoming County seeks contractors to reallign the stream bed and provide new support for the bridge.
Photos and story by Rick Hiduk
(Also published in the Rocket-Courier)
After three weeks of torrential rains that triggered three waves of flash flooding across the region, Wyoming County officials find themselves with a bit of a dilemma – work that needs to be done immediately and no official disaster declaration to free up funds. The county was spared the worst of the flooding during the first two weeks of rain that started in July, which is the only time stretch officially covered by Gov. Tom Wolf’s initial disaster declaration.
“In the rest of the state, they’re treating them as separate storms,” said Wyoming County EMA director Gene Dziak in his report to the Wyoming County Commissioners on Tuesday. “We are fighting to have all of the neighboring counties included (in a new declaration) and include all the storms.”
Since the second and third weeks of rain resulted in most of the damage that occurred in the Endless Mountains, Dziak is working with emergency management officials in Bradford, Sullivan, and Susquehanna counties to combine damage assessments to reach the threshold of $18 million needed for a separate declaration. “I’m sure, if we can combine the counties, we can nail down that declaration,” he stated.
Municipalities in Wyoming County to incur significant damages on Aug. 14 and 15 included – but are not limited to – Falls, Meshoppen, North Branch, Washington, Braintrim, Tunkhannock and Exeter townships, as well as the boroughs of Tunkhannock, Laceyville and Nicholson.
“Nicholson was without a doubt the worst hit,” Dziak (below) reported, noting that at least 14 homes and numerous commercial properties were affected by the flooding.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 15, he received the first call that Tunkhannock and Horton creeks were over their banks and that some homes were being evacuated. Soon after that, Martin’s Creek, which runs through the center of town, burst out of its banks, and people had to be rescued from their dwellings. “All hell broke loose,” he remarked. “It happened so fast.”
“Several of the businesses had just recovered from previous floods,” Commissioner Tom Henry remarked, mentioning in particular Belvedere Lanes, a bowling alley that was slated for reopening this coming week.
The collaboration with neighboring counties does not stop at the quest for a separate declaration, Dziak noted. Susquehanna County officials have opened their state-managed disaster recovery center at 81 Public Avenue, across from the courthouse in Montrose to Wyoming County residents. Dziak said it would not be cost effective for Wyoming County to establish one of its own.
“We’ve got a good plan here for people who need help to go and get it,” he said of the generosity of Susquehanna County officials. Cleanup kits and well water testing kits are available, as is bottled water and other supplies, and Dziak took some items directly to Nicholson residents on Monday.
In the meantime, Dziak related a pressing issue in North Branch Township near Lovelton. The main flow of the North Branch Mehoopany Creek shifted to the north, washing out a wing wall and undermining the approach and the upstream side of the abutment of the Catlin Hollow Road bridge. Approximately 10 homes are beyond the bridge, which was replaced after the 2011 flood, and the residents have no other way in and out.
Dziak confirmed Commissioner Judy Mead’s query about a significant amount of work that had been done previously to secure the bridge. Dziak suggested that, with the size of the boulders put in place and the cement grouting, “That job looked like it would hold up to anything.”
Catlin Hollow Road is officially closed, but residents beyond the bridge are still using the bridge. “They are traveling at their own risk, which I don’t like,” said Dziak, who noted that the scope of the project has already been assessed and he needs funds to remedy the situation in two parts.
A permit has been filed with DEP to move the creek back to its old channel, which Dziak feels can be done by local contractors. The cost to fill in under the approach and rebuild the wing wall is estimated at $155,700, which would need to be done by a company with significant bridge building experience.
The commissioners decided that a combination of Act 13 and liquid fuel funds could be tapped to get the work started at once. Dziak is hopeful that the cost can be recouped from disaster funds if the multi-county collaboration is successful.
“I’m hoping that we will move on this in the next couple of days,” he stated.