Board cautions motorists: Don’t drive in water

TOWAMENCIN >> Township officials continue to repair damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida last week, with warning for residents.

“There were a lot of people violating the ‘Turn around, don’t drown’ rule. And there’s a reason for that rule,” said supervisor Dan Littley.

“A lot of these cars are light. Mini Coopers, and Kias, are not meant to go through rushing water,” he said.

Earlier this week township staff reported extensive damage, including an ongoing road closure of Detwiler Road due to the flooding, and Littley and township Manager Don Delamater

gave an update at the supervisors meeting on Wednesday night.

“We declared that emergency last Wednesday, right about one in the afternoon. The storm hit somewhere around 3:30, 4 o’clock. The fire department responded to over 25 water rescues and five fire calls that evening,” Littley said.

“For those people who seem to think that barricades are something you’ve gotta get out and move, and drive around, that can get real expensive if you’re in Pennsylvania. If you have to be rescued, if we have to come get you, we can charge you for those services. The fine is heavy,” he said.

Insurance carriers also tend to refuse to pay for any damage to vehicles caused by ignoring flood barriers, Littley added, particularly during storms like Sept. 1.

“Sumneytown Pike was a lake, between the Wawa entrance and Corpus Christi (School). There were a lot of roads around here that were just impassable,” he said.

Resident Joyce Snyder said she encountered a portion of Anders Road that had flooded but did not appear to be blocked off.

“Maybe they need to block it further down Anders, because turning into it, I did not realize it was closed. I think they blocked off both ends, but not in the middle,” she said.

Littley explained how that happened: “We ran out of barricades and cones,” so firefighters put them at major intersections and may have left side streets unblocked if barriers were unavailable.

“The fire department, public works (staff), police department, they all did a great job, under very trying circumstances. It was wet, it was dangerous out there,” he said.

Resident Joe Silverman asked for an update on the closure of Detwiler Road, where the heavy rains washed out a culvert below the roadway and caused enough damage that a pipe below the roadway needs replacement.

“During the storm, the storm pipe that goes across Detwiler, between Gehman and Wood Hollow Drive, washed out. There was nothing supporting that macadam, that was left hanging,” Littley said.

“People have this penchant for moving the wooden barricades, and the possibility was that they would go through the asphalt” if the road remained open, he said.

An underground gas line also runs through that area, which “could’ve been a real emergency” if struck or damaged by a vehicle, he added. Repairs to the pipe and culvert began last week, and were expected to be completed Friday, with the road slated to reopen by the end of the day, according to Delamater.

“The stormwater pipes are installed, we have poured the concrete curbing and are basing the trench (Thursday),” with final asphalt topping scheduled for Friday, Delamater said.

Board Chairman Chuck Wilson asked for a formal motion to ratify the township’s declaration of an emergency, which could authorize the manager and/or other staff “to act as necessary to meet the needs of this emergency,” and the board voted unanimously to do so. The board also unanimously voted to approve an extra $3,000 for emergency communication radios due to unexpected cost increases caused by COVID-19, Wilson said.