TREVORTON - Low lying areas in Trevorton were the scene of several evacuations and a water rescue as the normally tiny Zerbe Run overflowed its banks onto nearby streets Wednesday.
3 families moved
Trevorton Fire Chief Ed Reed said emergency officials started evacuating people Wednesday afternoon from Railroad Street. In some areas, the water was approximately 3 feet deep in the lower section of town.
"We evacuated three families from their homes in the afternoon on Railroad Street," Reed said. "The rest of the residents are playing the waiting game right now and staying put. But we are keeping our eyes on the area of Railroad Street from 10th Street to Susquehanna Avenue right now," he said Wednesday evening.
A shelter was set up at St. Patrick Church on Shamokin Street (Route 225) for the displaced residents.
Jeff Weikel, with Zerbe Township emergency management, reported that, with a lull in the rain at approximately 5 p.m., the water was starting to recede.
"Right now, we are going to try to keep up with the pumping," Weikel said.
Reed said Trevorton received about 5 inches of rain from Tuesday night into Wednesday, and he and Weikel feared the worst wasn't over.
"The forecast is showing the possibility of another 5 inches of rain coming overnight into tomorrow," Weikel said. "If that occurs, we will be in the same situation, maybe even worse."
Raft overturns
It was on the rapid waters of Zerbe Run that a pair of 14-year-old girls, Alexandra Balavage and Keyla Brill, attempted to float on a raft, leading to an emergency rescue described as "hairy" by one responder Wednesday morning.
Balavage's grandmother, Penny, was drenched by rain like many standing in the staging area of the baseball fields at Trevorton's west end, the pair of girls shaken but safe and sitting aboard an ambulance.
Penny Balavage herself was shaken, too, having watched as the girls walked near the water with a raft at 11th and Mahanoy streets. She said she began to walk down to where the girls were standing to warn them of the danger.
"Next thing I saw, the raft was overturned," Penny Balavage said.
She ran to a nearby home to seek help where emergency personnel and others were gathered to pump water from a basement. The girls were rescued.
"It was a nightmare," Penny Balavage said as she received a hug from a friend.