River begins to recede in Pennsylvania; some towns under water

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The Susquehanna River began receding in northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday, hours after cresting just beneath the top of levees protecting some cities from the worst of the flooding. But other, unprotected communities downstream were inundated with water, with several thousand homes submerged -- some swept off their foundations.

In Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County, many of the flooded homes were inundated up to the second floor, county commissioner Maryanne Petrilla told the Times.

In the city of Wilkes-Barre, 75,000 people remained under mandatory evacuation, although the 41-foot-high levees were able to weather the Susquehanna crest at 38.83 feet. Some low-lying areas experienced flooding, but so far much of the town appears to have been spared.

“The levees are holding, but we are coming upon some issues,” Petrilla said. “They’re showing some signs of weakness.”

Crews were dispatched early Friday to patch up weak parts of the levees. “If the levees give way, flooding could be much greater,” Petrilla said. “The next 24 hours are critical.”

In West Pittston, a town north of Wilkes-Barre and without levees, at least 500 homes were underwater, Petrilla said.

“They were unprotected,” she said. “The water came so fast that they got flooded out.”

In Wyoming County, about 4,200 families were affected by flooding -- some because water streamed into their basements, others because entire houses were swept off their foundations.

Rescue crews took to boats to pull out scores of people stranded in their cars; rescuers saved a family of three seconds before their home in Meshoppen was swept downstream, said Dave Carichner, the county’s deputy emergency management coordinator.

“When the last person was halfway into the boat, the house gave way,” he said in an interview. “We’ve had some really close calls.” The flooding is worse than the devastation brought by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, Carichner said.

The county had no mandatory evacuations, but residents were advised to leave their homes ahead of time.

“Most of these people know the routine, but they’re used to the normal stuff,” he said. “The 500-year-flood and the Agnes events, they don’t happen often.”

So far, that area has had no deaths or missing people -- “only minor scrapes, bumps and bruises,” Carichner said.

At least four people have been killed by flooding in central Pennsylvania, said Cory Angell, a spokesman for the state’s emergency management office

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said that 14 wastewater treatment plants were taken offline by floodwaters. Officials were urging residents to stay out of the floodwater because of concerns of toxicity.

Further downriver, in Binghamton, N.Y., floodwaters inundated the town and are expected to recede slowly over the weekend. Officials don’t know when the approximately 20,000 evacuated residents would be able to return home, said Eric Denk, a Broome County executive.

The nearby Susquehanna and Chengo rivers reached record high levels Thursday evening, but the surrounding earthen levees and concrete floodwalls protected the city from major damage. Much of the ground in the area is still saturated from Irene’s heavy rainfall at the end of August, leaving it unable to absorb the water from the new storm.

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-- Stephen Ceasar