Penn Hills, Plum, O'Hara face costly repairs after floods

Penn Hills and Plum, two of the worst-hit communities from flooding Sunday and Monday, face steep costs to get things all back up to normal, according to officials.

Penn Hills declared a state of emergency Monday afternoon in order to fast-track certain repair projects, said Scott Andrejchak, the municipality’s manager.

The declaration follows rain storms that pounded the eastern suburbs and other parts of the region with an average of 3 inches or more Sunday night through Monday.

“We took a pretty big loss on municipal property yesterday,” he said.

He said Penn Hills Community Park, North Bessemer Field and the baseball and softball fields at Milltown Community Park got the brunt of the damage. He estimated those parks alone will cost somewhere around $250,000 to repair.

“Bessemer’s field is gone. Milltown fields … those were basically destroyed and they’re probably not going to reopen this year,” he said. “Penn Hills park, there was some safety surface that came up there. And there’s still a lot of debris there.”

The township is filing claims with its insurance carrier to recoup what it can.

The municipality lost about 300,000 tons of salt from its storage dome, which Andrejchak valued at $20,000. “There was a lake down there on Leechburg Road,” he said.

A lot of homes had flooded basements; some businesses were affected, too. Andrejchak said he took 50 calls from residents, many saying it was the worst flooding they’d seen in 40 years.

Steps are already being taken to purchase a milling machine to repair Jacobs Street, which lost part of the road as it washed away from flooding on Monday. The municipality also prohibited parking on both sides of the street, a process that typically goes to a council vote.

But a state of emergency does not guarantee state and federal funding, Andrejchak said.

The declaration means Penn Hills officials can bypass certain bureaucratic steps in securing funding for projects and could make the municipality eligible for any funding that comes along, he said.

O’Hara issued an emergency declaration after flooding on July 11. The township wasn’t hit again by the most recent storms Sunday night through Monday.

Still, O’Hara Manager Julie Jakubec said repairs in the wake of the July 11 floods will cost between $200,000 and $250,000, although she cautioned it’s still early.

“We’re going to use whatever reserves we have left over from last year,” she said, adding that the township won’t have to borrow money.

Many homes in O’Hara sustained severe basement flooding. The township got dumpsters to help residents with cleaning up.

Repairing damage to township infrastructure such as storm water pipes will take months to, she said. The onslaught of rain caused many pipes to blow out.

“We have a list and we’re prioritizing what we think is the most severe and working our way down,” Jakubec said. “We probably haven’t even discovered some of them.”

She said township crews are doing some of the work; a contractor is doing the rest.

O’Hara issued the emergency declaration to get residents the help they needed quickly. But, Jakubec doesn’t think the amount of damage is enough to trigger state or federal aid.

The Red Cross also assisted.

Residents still in need of help can contact the township at 412-782-1400. Even if the township can’t help, Jakubec said they can direct residents to other agencies that can.

Plum officials did not declare a state of emergency, but damage due to flooding was still “significant,” said Michael Thomas, the borough’s manager.

“We did not need to (declare an emergency),” Thomas said. “We have the equipment and the manpower and tools necessary for what is needed.”

Thomas said it was still too early to know how much the damage to infrastructure and the Plum Creek Park baseball fields will cost.

“Half of the eight fields are totally destroyed. They’re filled with debris, rocks and sticks and stones, glass and metal. Everything you can think of. The water flow was great enough that it created ruts and valleys and it even changed the elevation of the fields,” Thomas said.

He said most debris has been cleared on all major roads. Saltsburg and New Texas roads both have one-lane restrictions as of Tuesday afternoon as PennDOT crews work to repair damaged culverts, structures that allow water to flow underneath roadways, he said.

Thomas said the borough is aware of up to five families that were displaced from their homes due to water damage.

“That’s what were aware of, there could be much more than that,” Thomas said, adding the borough is coordinating with the Red Cross to help those people out.

Pat McAfee, a Plum High School alum and former NFL punter and kicker, pledged to match up to $15,000 to aid people who were displaced from flooding in Plum. The GoFundMe fundraiser purported to have raised $4,255 by Tuesday afternoon.

A good bit of my hometown is currently underwater.

Flash flooding is wiping out communities.

People have had 2 be rescued from their homes & more damage is looming. No clue what the final toll will be but it’s my job 2 help.

I’m matching $15K, join me~> https://t.co/CVkxOV7YQK pic.twitter.com/rA0aB93lDp

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 22, 2019

“We both grew up here … and it’s just what Pittsburgh’s about,” said Phil Mains, a Plum resident and Chief Financial Officer at Pat McAfee Inc. “We’re not trying to save the world or anything, it just seemed like the best thing to do.”

Visit the website on more information on how to give.