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By LANE FILLER and KRIS WERNOWSKY [email protected],
[email protected]
Saturday, April 02, 2005     Page: 1A

Dave Rodano shook his head in disbelief as he listened to the weather
report from a booth in his River Street restaurant, Rodano’s Pizza.
   
If this weekend’s rain predictions hold true, water will cover the floor of
his restaurant by Monday morning. When the restaurant closed Friday night, he
planned to move his entire stock of food out of the store to his brother’s
Wilkes-Barre restaurant. Much of the equipment will go to his mother’s home on
high ground.
    Rodano closed shop for three weeks when the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan
pummeled Luzerne County in September. He suffered more than $30,000 damage.
   
“This is nuts,” the stressed entrepreneur said. “If this one happens, I’m
going to seriously think about changing my location.”
   

The prediction
   
Thirty-three feet is the predicted river crest in Wilkes-Barre early
Monday, well above the 22-foot flood stage but well below an Agnes-level
disaster according to Dave Nicosia, the National Weather Service in
Binghamton’s warning coordination meteorologist.
   
Rain was expected to start in Northeastern Pennsylvania after midnight
today and continue through tomorrow, before turning to snow, with potential
accumulation of several inches. The problem many say is that the river is
still high from rain earlier this week. By Friday afternoon, the Susquehanna
at Wilkes-Barre was at 17.78 feet.
   
The predictions Nicosia presented are based on rainfall totals of 2.25
inches and snowmelt equal to another half inch of water by Monday. An
additional inch of rain will often raise river levels by as much as 3 feet.
All predictions could change, according to Luzerne County’s Kevin O’Brien and
EMA Director Al Bardar, who are expected to hold another conference call with
the National Weather Service this morning.
   

Along the Susquehanna
   
The record crest for the Susquehanna at Wilkes-Barre was 40.91 feet in
1972. The worst recent flood occurred last September, when the river hit 34.96
feet due to the rain that fell in the post-Hurricane Ivan storms. That flood
caused considerable property damage, partially from overflowing creeks, but no
loss of life.
   
The levee in the Wilkes-Barre area rises to 41 feet, but provides no
protection for most other towns along the river. County officials say they
will decide today whether to install the flood gates on the Market Street
Bridge.
   
Between 100 and 150 homes and businesses are said to be in the line of the
potential flood, according to early EMA estimates.
   
Plains Township EMA Coordinator Charles Krommes said emergency officials
hadn’t started notifying people in potential trouble areas in the township as
of Friday evening. He’ll wait until after today’s conference call, but he
said, some who have lived in the area a long time already know better and have
started to leave.
   
Shickshinny Mayor Beverly Moore said she’s already started moving things
out of her own home, which sits close to the river near Canal Street. Business
owners in the town were notified about the likelihood of flooding and
residents in problem areas were given a flier detailing what is supposed to
happen by Monday.
   
Wilkes-Barre Director of Planning and Development Butch Frati said police,
the Department of Public Works, firefighters and other city employees will be
on call and ready to work if things look bad. The city has also asked
residents to clear out storm drains in preparation for the rain.
   
County officials also said they will wait until today to decide whether to
install the flood gates on the Market Street Bridge.
   
“We’re as ready as we can be right now, and we’ll know a lot more
tomorrow,” Frati said. “But we do have equipment placed by the major creeks,
Solomon, Laurel Run, Mill and Coal Brook, to remove debris during the storm if
problems occur.”
   
Before the river floods, the concern will be problematic creeks and
tributaries.
   
“Obviously, there is always the potential for tremendous amounts of rain
and localized problems with the creeks,” Nicosia said. “We’ll be looking for
that Saturday, and with the current creek levels, any significant rains cause
those creeks to just go nuts.”
   

Moving stock
   
In September, the Kmart in Edwardsville was at the mercy of Toby Creek and
Ivan’s aftereffects. It took more than a month for the store to reopen on Nov.
7. On Friday, employees moved stock from the bottom two shelves of every
aisle, some packed in large Tupperware containers, to the high shelves of the
stock room to prepare for the predicted torrent.
   
District Manager Herb Grainer said roughly 115 employees – 30 from other
area Kmart stores – helped pull merchandise off the shelves. Grainer insisted
the reorganization was only a precaution and the store will remain open.
   
“Well, not unless the water goes into the building,” he said.
   

Still suffering
   
Charlie Musto’s house is right along River Street in the Port Blanchard
section of Jenkins Township. He’s owned the home for 30 years. It takes a
river stage of 33 feet before he starts to take on water, so naturally, he’s
worried.
   
Since September, when his home took in a foot and a half of water on the
first floor, Musto and his wife have lived in his deceased parents’ home in
West Pittston. The tools and trinkets in his Jenkins Township basement are
still covered in mud. The first floor isn’t much better.
   
The white walls and ceilings are covered in webs of dark mold and mildew
stains that resemble abstract art. It left the air heavy, which made breathing
difficult.
   
“We can’t work in there for very long. It’s rough trying to breathe down
there,” he said as he left the house.