Storm causes flooding in Derry basements

Jerris Weller stood in the storm water and sewer water that had flooded the finished basement of his Derry Borough home Thursday night, a sump pump pushing the water outside almost as fast as a shower drain and floor drain was filling it up again.

“This is a repeated problem that they (Derry officials) have not addressed and they have no clue or don’t intend to address it. We’re fed up,” Weller said, as he refrained from cursing as he cleaned from what had been at least nine inches of water in the basement of his West Owens Street home. Weller said they even spent about $8,000 in 2018 to have a device installed in their drainage pipe to prevent a backflow, but that did not work Thursday.

Firefighters from Derry, Bradenville and Blairsville were pumping water from at least 10 homes on the western side of the borough Thursday night, said Josh Campbell, Derry Borough fire chief.

Campbell blamed the flooding along West Owens, Leo, Ridge and West Keeling streets on an intense storm Thursday night that dumped a large amount of water on the borough within a 45-minute timeframe. A gauge at the Derry Township Municipal Authority measured 3.8 inches of rain in a short period of time on Thursday, said Amy Forsha, manager of the Derry Borough Municipal Authority, which supplies both water and sewage treatment service.

Forsha said that residents along West Owens Street are victims of topography — the street is at the bottom of a hill — and the sanitary sewer line gets filled with stormwater. Spome basement drains still are connected to the sanitary sewer system, Forsha said. The lines are sized to handle the flow from one inch of rain, Forsha said.

“A lot of the ground water fills up the pipe,” sometimes from breaks in the line, Forsha said.

On Thursday night, Forsha said the authority did pump water directly from a sewer manhole into McGee Run, a tributary of the Conemaugh River, to alleviate pressure on the system. The state Department of Environmental Resources directed the borough authority in 2008 to refrain from automatically diverting sewer outflow in a heavy storm, directly into the creek, Forsha said.

Dan Wynn is trying to sell his home on West Owens Street, but now has to tend to cleaning up from more than 15 inches of water in the basement.

“Every time we get a hard rain, the backflow happens,” Wynn said.

Dave Novello of 213 W. Owens St., said he has lived on the street for 52 years “and it’s never been this bad.”

Because of flooding over the past year, Novello said he has had to replace his washer and dryer, the hot water tank that rusted out and his furnace, costing thousands of dollars.

“The borough doesn’t do anything about it,” Novello said.

Water pumped out a basement at 217 Owens St. , Derry Borough, after heavy storms hit eastern Westmoreland County Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/Bo3NdnPn6n

— Joe Napsha (@jnapsha) July 24, 2020

As firefighters pumped the water from her basement onto the street, Cynthia Alhborn said she has experienced enough flooding to the basement of her West Owens Street home that she did not lose her appliances this time. They were placed on blocks and were not ruined by the more than 15 inches of water that covered her basement, Alhborn said.

“We did not used to have this problem,” said Alhborn, who has lived in the house for 20 years.

Flash Flood Warning-Westmoreland Co-1.5" to 2.5" rainfall so far, flooding possible. #WPXIStorm pic.twitter.com/piNwvP51Wx

— Stephen Cropper (@WPXICropper) July 24, 2020