Cleanup after Ida could take months
The Labor Day holiday weekend is normally a time for celebrating the unofficial end of summer, the return to school classrooms, and the anticipation of the coming football season (when the Eagles are presumed to be Super Bowl contenders.)
But for many residents of Chester County, the weekend finds little reason to celebrate. Instead, there are basements to un-flood, sodden furniture to dispose of, indoor reclamation work to begin, and step-by-step work to begin to rebuild the lives that were devastatingly disrupted Wednesday and Thursday by the flooding brought on by the storms along Hurricane Ida’s powerful path.
On Saturday, driving through communities across the county, people were seen emptying out the water-soaked contents of their homes and deciding what was worth keeping and what was not. The long cleanup in places from Oxford to
Phoenixville, Coatesville to Downingtown, had begun.
The Chester County commissioners, each of whom had spent the previous day touring affected areas of the county, speaking with local officials, emergency responders, and individual residents, said they were prepared to offer whatever assistance they could to help their constituents recover from the storm’s impact. But they also took time to praise the efforts they had seen on the ground both during and after Ida crossed the county.
“Over the past three days, it has been more evident than ever that in Chester County, the whole is immensely greater than the sum of its parts,” the county leaders — Chairwoman Marian Moskowitz, Vice Chairman Josh Maxwell, and Commissioners and Michelle Kichline — said in a statement issued Saturday. “Our individual communities have banded together as an incredible force to rescue people, care for people and meet the needs of those whose homes, businesses and lives have been devastated by Hurricane Ida.
“These efforts have been nothing short of amazing: Neighbors rescuing neighbors; Family and friends opening their homes to those whose properties flooded; clean-up crews coming together; and donations coming in, the statement read. “The people we have met and talked with over the past few days have the most amazing stories of heroics and hope in the midst of destruction.”
On Friday, the county’s Department of Emergency Services listed the data from the storm. Its 9-1-1 Communications Center processed over 4,000 calls, resulting in over 300 storm-related rescues in a 10-hour time frame during tropical storm Ida.
Michael P. Murphy, DES director, instructed those who had suffered property damage to report the matter to their individual municipality and to photograph and document the damage. “Please keep and maintain receipts and records of the cost associated with clean-out and recovery from this storm,” added Murphy.
During the storm, units from the Chester County Rescue Task Force, and emergency response teams from New Castle County, Del., Lancaster County, Delaware County, and Camden County, N.J., conducted more than 300 water rescues, resulting in the rescue of multiple individuals from vehicles, homes, and businesses. During the height of the storm, over 8,000 PECO customers in Chester County were without power.
Pickering Creek Dam in Schuylkill Township was at a warning and evacuation stage early Thursday morning, resulting in localized evacuations. This evacuation order was lifted, and residents were able to return to their homes several hours later. Flood stages were exceeded up and down the Brandywine Creek from Modena and Marsh Creek south to Chadds Ford, where the popular Brandywine River Museum, home of works of the Wyeth Family, was forced to close because of flooding.
A mass care shelter was established at the Coatesville Area Senior High School for Chester County residents that needed shelter.
“Any residents who are still in need of housing assistance should contact 2-1-1. Help is available through that number any time, day or night,” noted Michael Murphy.
Nine county bridges are closed pending engineer inspection. One of these bridges is closed indefinitely at Camp Bonsul Road in New London and Elk over the Big Elk Creek.
There was one storm-related civilian fatality and four first responders were injured while performing rescue operations.
The county Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as Michael Nastasi of East Brandywine, whose body was recovered in his vehicle at Samuel Tabas Memorial Park in Downingtown. The 51-year-old husband and father was less than 5 miles from his home when his vehicle was overrun by rushing waters from the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek and its tributaries along Route 32. The commissioners sent their “sincerest condolences to family and friends who loved and knew him.”
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado struck and significantly damaged a neighborhood in East Nottingham on Wednesday. Route 1 north of Oxford was closed to traffic for hours and cars and debris were cleared from the roadway.
“From Phoenixville and the north of the county to Chadds Ford, Oxford and points south; from west to east, and centrally in Coatesville and Downingtown — the remnants of Ida brought with it damage that was fast and furious,” said the commissioners. “The actions of our first responders were heroic, with more than water rescues from vehicles, homes and businesses. Without the brave and swift responses of those emergency workers on the front line, we fear there may have been more lives lost.”
Now that the waters have receded, the commissioners said the next phase of the response begins. They said help find accommodations for those who had to evacuate their homes; information on cleaning up those homes, businesses, schools, playgrounds, parks and roads, flooded by Ida’s waters; and ways to assess damage assessment of homes and businesses, could al be found at www.chesco. org/ida.
“The collective Chester County community response has been impressive,” the commissioners said. “Cleanup crews appearing up and down the streets where the devastation was greatest; organized collections of food, water, toiletries, clothing, toys; financial donations, and more.
“We are grateful for everyone who is giving time, resources and material goods for those in need. And we thank those who are organizing the response,” said the trio “Your actions show that Chester County truly cares.”