MOUNT CARMEL - The residents of Water Street are sick of feeling ignored by Mount Carmel Borough Council and want something to be done about the creek that keeps destroying their property.
"I know they're trying to work on it, but I just want something temporary to protect all of us down here. I don't know what the solution is. I just can't do this anymore," Michele Krah, 39, of 311 E. Water St. said Tuesday afternoon at her residence along Shamokin Creek.
The Flood of 2011 is the fourth time in a year that the Krah family's basement at 311 E. Water St. was damaged by high water, even after they took measures to protect their basement. They cemented shut the front entrance after the third time, but the extreme flooding in September pushed water all around their house, breaking open a steel door and dumping nearly five feet, 56 inches, of water into their basement.
The fourth time, they lost their oil furnace and electrical box. Their foundation is still sound, but interior walls were destroyed.
Not alone
They aren't alone either. Emily Homanick, 68, of 319 E. Water St., lost a gas furnace, a hot water heater, a freezer full of food, a washer, a dryer and two dressers during the Flood of 2011. This was the first time she has lost so much, but not the first time she was flooded.
Bob Handrahan, 58, of 304 E. Center St. lost a furnace, a hot water heater, a sump pump, a shed, a lawnmower, a snow blower and assorted tools. This was the first time he lost anything as well.
And other families along the creek experienced losses, too, they said.
"Every time it rains, I'm holding my heart, hoping it doesn't flood," Handrahan said.
The Krah family has spent more than $22,000 of their own money and $8,000 of insurance money received after flooding in September 2010, April and May. They have yet to receive estimates on how much damage the Flood of 2011 cause or how much they might receive from insurance or Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Michele, 39, her husband, Chuck, 43, and their 12-year-old son, Tyler, have been staying with Michele's parents since the storm.
"It looked like the houses were islands and this creek was a lake," said Michele's mother Debbie Martin.
Homanick, who estimates her home received at least $15,000 in damage, received approximately $1,360 from FEMA to replace her furnace and hot water heater.
Handrahan hasn't received any aid.
'Nothing we can do'
Despite their troubles, there might not be much the borough can do. While construction of a flood control project is expected to start in the spring, the borough isn't responsible for it. The Department of General Services (DGS) has the money for the project and will be bidding out for services. The borough's only obligation in the process is to acquire the rights to the land around the creek, consolidate the deeds and sign them over to DGS.
"We don't have the authority to do it. There's nothing we can do. We don't own any of it. It's their (DGS) project. It's not the borough's. The borough is not doing the creek project. I repeat, the borough is not doing the creek project," borough President Tony Matulewicz said.
The borough may have previously dropped the ball, but the project has never moved faster than it has in recent years, he said.
Furthermore, some residents have refused to sign off on the project until they were compensated for their land, he said.
"It's our own residents who are holding this project up," Matulewicz said.
There are Jersey barriers along that section of Water Street, and the borough placed a row of sandbags along the creek before the water rose in September, but nothing prevented the damage.
Nevertheless, the residents need help now, not next year, they say.
"They need to find some temporary fix," said Martin. "If you go to a doctor, and they can't help you, they send you to another doctor who can help you. If you don't know what to do, get someone else to help us."
Krah said she feels neglected.
"It makes you feel like they don't care, because it's not happening to their house," she said.
Homanick was emotional as she relayed her former passion for the area.
"I used to love this town, but not no more. I'm going to sell my house if I can," she said.
Matulewicz said there is nothing that can be done until the project starts next year.
"The average person thinks we're sitting on money, and we're not doing anything. That's not the case. I want this project done just as much as anyone, but how do you temporarily fix something that takes 450 days to fix? There's no way to patch the water there," he said.
Other homes sustained more damage in the record-setting flood, but that doesn't make Water Street residents' situation any less painful, Krah said.
She has also been told to move if the problem is such a hassle, but she said she shouldn't have to.
"I like this house. I like this neighborhood. I like where I live. We're just disgusted. I don't want people's pity. I just want somebody to help me," she said.
Martin said the council is ignoring her daughter and the other residents' problems.
"They say nothing can be done or they don't know what to do, and we're supposed to live with that?" she said.