Floodwaters left some in Berks feeling trapped
Jul. 11—Theresa and James Caten were finishing some last-minute vacation packing Sunday when a storm hit, leading to downpours that lasted for hours.
Taking a break as the heavy rain continued, they sat out on the front porch to watch the swelling Antietam Creek tumbling about 100 feet from their home on Old Angora Road in Lower Alsace Township.
The raging water had already cut deeply into its banks, they noticed, and eroded the earth supporting the road.
They watched as chunks of sandy soil, clay and blacktop tumbled into the creek and were swept away by the roaring water.
Somehow, over the water's noise, Theresa heard the cracking sound of splintering wood. She looked down the road toward the auto detailing shop at 1460 Friedensburg Road and saw the building was moving.
"It's going in," she called to her husband.
Both stared as the creek tore off the rear section of the building, smashed it to bits and carried fragments downstream.
Between 5 and 8 inches of rain fell in parts of Berks County on Sunday, with communities to the east and north of Reading experiencing some of the worst damage from the flash flooding that resulted.
The Stony Creek Mills area of Lower Alsace near Antietam Lake suffered some of the worst damage. Homes, businesses and Antietam High School were among the buildings seriously affected.
The toll was so significant that Gov. Josh Shapiro paid a visit to the neighborhood Monday to assess damage from a storm that wreaked havoc through much of eastern Pennsylvania.
Despite the destruction, James said the couple never feared for their safety on Sunday. Their house is high enough on the hillside to keep out of the flood's path, he said.
The couple did have a concern, however. Since the flooding creek eroded their road, their vehicles and those of their neighbors were stranded in their driveways in the aftermath of the storm.
The Catens live in one of three houses in the 100 block of Old Angora Road. Long closed to through traffic, the old road is used by hikers and bicyclists.
Due to severe erosion caused by the storm, residents were unable to drive vehicles southward over the road to the intersection of Friedensburg Road. And the floodwaters took out a bridge over the creek at the other end of the road. Stuck after the storm, the couple were planning to improvise their way out using backyards and a nearby business parking lot to reach Friedensburg Road.
