Friday, June 12, 2020

Flooded Homes Evacuated Overnight in Gilberton

Late Thursday and Early Friday, emergency personnel were in Gilberton evacuating people from homes that were flooded.

Throughout the day on Thursday, emergency personnel were in the borough of Gilberton trying to keep up with the rising waters after the morning rain that dumped approximately 3 inches of rain.

Along with the emergency personnel, borough and state officials were at the scene working with the construction company that was operating at the Route 924 bridge.

Borough officials said on Thursday that the flooding was due to the work and changes in the landscape that were being done by the bridge project.  Since May, this will have been the second time there were water issues due to blocked drainage that the project caused.

Representative Neal Goodman was also at the scene to ensure the proper work was taken place in a quick manner to rectify the issue.

Around 5:30pm, Thursday, larger, more powerful pumps were brought in from New Jersey after Mayor Mary Lou Hannon called the company to the bring them earlier in the day.

"We used these same pumps in 2018 when we flooded, so I called them, and they were on the road immediately" said Hannon.

Fire companies from all over Schuylkill County as well as Northumberland worked throughout the day and into the night to keep up but the water continued to rise.

Just before 11:00pm, Thursday, emergency officials made the decision to evacuate the flooded homes on the south side of Main Street in the borough.

The West End Fire Company from Mahanoy City was dispatched to bring their for evacuations.

Members of the dive team, went door to door to the homes and evacuated any residents that had not already evacuated.

Within an hour, the team evacuated approximately 10 people.  Those 10 were brought to dry land and were then transported to the American Hose in Mahanoy Plane where those victims spent the night and were assisted by the American Red Cross.

Around 2:00am, emergency personnel seized operations and would return at daybreak to continue to work.