Mon Valley Braces for Possible Flooding

Washington PA Observer-Reporter
10 March 2010
By Scott Beveridge, Staff writer
sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com

WEST BROWNSVILLE - There is a string of decrepit houses along flood-prone Water Street in West Brownsville, abandoned by those who grew tired of cleaning up river mud and debris.

The handful of folks who remain are once again nervous as forecasters discuss the possibility of a record-setting flood caused by warmer temperatures and rain about to descend on heavy snowpack in the headwaters of the Monongahela River.

"I moved everything out of the basement," said Dave Kudyba, who works in his family auto shop near his home on the street in eastern Washington County.

"It was three blocks high in the garage in 1985. I don't think it'll get that bad again, you hope," he said while working on a vehicle Tuesday at Kudyba's Body Shop.

He said he believes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers learned from its mistake of not adequately warning about previous floods and is working hard to spread the word of the potential for another disaster.

"You'd better be prepared," he said.

The current conditions are similar to those preceding the January 1996 flood on the Mon, when two days of warm weather followed by rain saturated the region and floodwaters inundated parts of downtown Pittsburgh and other areas, the Corps stated in a Tuesday news release.

The Corps is drawing down 16 reservoirs in five states, including those in Southwestern Pennsylvania, over its concerns about high water.

The decision is a response to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh's forecast of temperatures in the 50s and 60s, and a chance of several days of rain for the rest of the week, Corps spokesman Jeff Hawk said.

"We have an abundant amount of space to store water," said Werner Loehlein, the Corps' district water management chief. "We can adjust our operations as conditions dictate."

The district's system for lowering the risk of flood damage can capture about a third of the snowmelt and stormwater runoff.

However, there are many area streams without flood control devices that are at risk of significant flooding.

"We can reduce the risk of flooding, but we can't eliminate it. People should know their flood risk, know whether their property is prone to flooding, and then prepare appropriately," Loehlein said.

However, some people in the Fredericktown area, upriver from West Brownsville, said they are taking a wait-and-see approach to rising waters.

"We're keeping a look out back," said Tracy Sommovilla, manager of a Save-A-Lot grocery store a stone's throw from the river in Millsboro. "That's all we can do."

East Bethlehem Township police Capt. Mark Pompe, who patrols the area, said the local road crew is still cleaning up fallen trees from the February storms and is too busy to worry about a flood.

"If the flood happens, we'd have to move everything out of the (township) building," Pompe said.

The small municipal building and township library sit on the banks of the Mon and were flooded with 6 feet of water in 1985.

"Everything we own is in this garage, the police files, everything," Pompe said.

He will keep his eye on the old diesel-powered ferry that crosses the river in Fredericktown to know when it's time to start moving the township records.

"If (the ferry) stops, it's because the currents are too strong, and then we take a look at the river," Pompe said.