Nov 21, 2003 By Josh Krysak 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – With the bright sunshine glinting on the red casing of a shiny new generator, Robin Rose pulled back a strand of blond hair with the swipe of a muddy glove and talked over the humming power source in her soggy front yard. “We evacuated by 11:30 a.m. yesterday,” Rose said Thursday. “Last night it looked like the house was floating. We had 31/2 feet of water in the house, and the entire basement was full. We had about 12 feet of water in our home.”

After steady rains Wednesday poured floodwater across Fayette and Greene counties in some of the worst local flooding in recent memory, area residents and emergency crews were out early Thursday to begin the arduous cleanup. And like Rose, many area residents returned to their homes or businesses to assess the damage.

Rose’s East Lincoln Street home in Waynesburg was one of several along Ten Mile Creek that suffered the brunt of the flooding as the creek overflowed its banks and deluged area businesses and residents. Rose said everything on the first floor of the house was destroyed.

Standing on slick, mud-covered linoleum in her kitchen, Rose looked at the water line across her wall and listed the appliances lost: washer, dryer, dishwasher, refrigerator and television. Luckily she has flood insurance and caring relatives and neighbors.

She said she and her husband, Ron, will stay with her sister, and her son Michael will stay with a friend until the home can be refurbished.

Next door, Phyllis Squires, who has lived in her home along Ten Mile Creek for 16 years, also was cleaning up. She will need a new furnace and water heater as well as new carpeting. Although the floodwaters reached only a few inches in the first floor of her house, Wednesday’s deluge was the worst she can recall.

“At 4 p.m. we were evacuated. Water was on the porch and coming up through the sinks. I lost my chairs, picnic table, dog house – it all washed away,” Squires said.

Down the road, the Waynesburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4793 was also being cleaned Thursday.

Jim Kiger, quartermaster, stood in the middle of the mud-filled building and assessed the damage.

“We’ve lost most of our food stock. It is just gone.” Kiger said.

Floodwater reached about 3 feet deep in the building before beginning to subside late Wednesday night.

He said coolers and freezers floated throughout the building and suffered damage. He also pointed out his picnic tables, which used to be under a pavilion behind the establishment.

“They floated away,” Kiger said, pointing to three tables overturned along the railroad tracks about 100 yards away.

Similar stories were told at the Agway supply store along East First Street and Long John Silver’s restaurant along Route 21, where officials said the water was about a foot deep in the building and that cleanup will take about a week before the restaurant can reopen.

Late Wednesday, the excessive water forced the Greene County commissioners to declare the county a disaster area and prompted all the area school districts to close early and begin school Thursday with two-hour delays.

Officials said dozens of roads were flooded and impassable, and PennDOT officials said that it will be at least a week before the damage and debris can be cleaned up. Every municipality across the two-county region had some troubles caused by the rain, and widespread basement flooding was reported.

According to Greene County Emergency Management Director Jeff Marshall, the state is reviewing the damage to see if the disaster declaration was warranted.

‘The county has three damage assessment teams surveying areas affected by the flooding,” Marshall said.

“The rainfall and flooding event was comparable to the election flood of 1985.”

Marshall said that if the state determines the disaster was warranted, Gov. Ed, Rendell will assess the situation and “hopefully” declare the county a disaster. Marshall said that if Rendell agrees that the county is a disaster, federal funds for cleanup and rebuilding will be made available.

Greene County Commissioner Dave Coder commended PennDOT, fire departments and volunteers for their efforts to combat the water.

Marshall noted that no injuries were reported because of the flooding, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army were issuing cleanup kits to all residents in need.

Commissioner Farley Toothman said the severity of the flood should get local authorities moving to work more cooperatively in flood preparation.

“You can’t plan for them, but maybe we can work together to do a better job with storm-water management,” he said.