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WILKES-BARRE — The floodgates on four bridges over Solomon Creek were installed for hours Monday when the water level rose from heavy rains that started Sunday night.
In the end, there was no damage. But the situation caused a less-than-friendly exchange between the city’s mayor and the head of the county’s flood protection authority.
The trouble started as the fast-moving creek washed debris downstream, and a mass of it collected at the Sans Souci Parkway bridge in Hanover Township. That caused a blockage that had to be removed by a PennDOT excavator.
Wilkes-Barre City Fire Chief Jay Delaney said the debris most likely contributed to the rising water level that came close to 6 feet.
“We dodged a bullet today,” Delaney said. The city cleared the creek bed earlier this year and, had it not, the outcome might have been different, he said.
There was no flooding, no properties were damaged and the bridges over South Franklin, Regent, Barney and Waller streets reopened by mid-afternoon.
But Mayor Tony George was critical of what he said was a lack of response and help from the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority to help lower the creek level. High water poses a danger to the Solomon Creek wall that is in bad shape and in danger of further collapse. The city is in the early stages of a nearly $5 million project to rebuild sections of the Depression-era wall.
The mayor raised the issue in an email to an aide of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, who inquired about any flooding from the rainfall.
“We weathered the storm, but unfortunately it is an everyday occurrence. I don’t know how long we can do this before the wall comes down,” the mayor said.
“I felt there was enough notice from the day before, about the threat of flash flooding in the creeks, for them to be in emergency mode. They could have at least opened the floodgates for the creek to run to the (Susquehanna) river, if they weren’t going to put the pumps on. They are more worried about runners on top of the dike than the safety and loss of property of our residents.”
Chris Belleman, executive director of the authority, said he was not contacted by anyone from the mayor’s office about assistance with Solomon Creek. The pumps the mayor referred to are designed to be activated when the river hits 18 feet and it was between 8 and 10 feet Monday, Belleman said.
Belleman responded directly to George in an email late Monday, criticizing the mayor for his ignorance of the flood protection system.
“Your comments which are factually incorrect and convey inaccurate, if not harmful, information to the community is a detriment to public safety. We deserve better from our elected officials,” Belleman wrote.
“With the river stage as low as it was, Solomon Creek simply drained through the pump station directly to the river. So, to have you say ‘They could have at least opened the floodgates for the creek to run to the river, if they weren’t going to put the pumps on,’ demonstrates a complete ignorance of how the system was designed and operates. A simple phone call to me would have addressed your concerns,” Belleman continued.
He further stated the bridges over the creek in Wilkes-Barre and Hanover Township “allow sediments and debris to accumulate at these locations and may contribute to a backwater effect and localized flooding concerns at upstream locations.”
‘Unofficial alarm’
Firefighters and police had been monitoring the creek throughout the early morning hours as heavy rains that started around 3 a.m. created a threat of flash flooding. Chief Delaney said he got a call between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. when the creek level was about 4½ feet and rising.
“Five feet is the unofficial alarm for us,” Delaney said.
Firefighters and Department of Public Works employees were mobilized and began the process of putting the gates in place on the bridges around 6:30 a.m. The heavy, steel-plated gates are hinged and double as walls for the bridges. Some move freely and others are lifted with the aid of a backhoe so they can be swung into place across the roadway and secured so that if the creek rises above the bridge decks, the water can flow over them and not spill into the streets.
While city personnel were working on the gates, Hanover Township workers came on the scene and alerted them of the debris collecting at the bridge downstream. Delaney said he and George went to the bridge to see what was happening.
The county Road and Bridge Department attempted to remove the debris but it required a larger piece of equipment for the job. PennDOT was contacted and brought an excavator with an arm long enough to reach over the bridge and into the creek.
The machine operator pulled a tree from the creek and a worker used a chain saw to cut it up. A supervisor on scene estimated the debris would fill three dump trucks.
